Torn In Two
by FallenCrimsonStar
Summary: ItaSaku. Sequel to HER DARK ANGEL. The return of the Sharingan to the leaf precedes open war with Madara. As Sakura struggles to deal with Itachi, an unlikely ally will hold Konoha's fate in their hands, whether they like it or not.
1. Healing Touch

**A/N: ItaSaku. This is the SEQUEL to my one-shot "Her Dark Angel". ****I highly recommend you read it first, if you haven't already. This picks up right where the one-shot left off… basically.  
><strong>**In "Her Dark Angel", Naruto didn't know about Itachi's sacrifice, even though the Kage summit was over and done with, Team Taka was still together, Danzou is still alive, certain Akatsuki members are still alive, and debating on whether or not to follow Madara (his survival is not common knowledge). Itachi had a "crisis of faith" in his plans for Sasuke, he also wiped out the Uchiha clan singlehandedly…**

**Now, Naruto, Hinata, and Tsunade all know about Itachi and Sakura, while only a select few others also know that it was Itachi who saved her in HDA. It isn't common knowledge.  
>Also, for the purpose of this fic, the order to wipe out the Uchiha clan had come from Danzou alone.<br>Sakura is 17, while Itachi is 22. **

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 1 – Healing Touch.

"_If there is someone for everyone, a soul for every soul, then why are people afraid to follow their hearts?"_

The trees near the Fuuin Jutsu that isolated the Uchiha district from the rest of Konoha were dense and unkempt as people usually avoided this area. They never used to before the sealing jutsu had been put up, the intrigue surrounding the place where hundreds of people had lost their lives in one night drawing the occasional glance, side trip or detour while the person or people in question made their way _elsewhere_. Except for the incident surrounding those missing kids back when placing a sealing jutsu had become necessary, people didn't hover here, even when they used to pass by.

Jumping from branch to branch, Itachi Uchiha gripped his side, trying to ignore the pain. Finally, he landed on the branch of a tree not too far from the sealing jutsu around his former home, inside Konoha. After the attack by Pein, the security in the leaf had increased, but both because Itachi used to be an elite ANBU, and because he'd made regular trips back here for years without being noticed, he knew his presence had gone unnoticed.

Of course, he'd never told Pein how to get in unnoticed; not even Madara knew – the passage had been created after the true Akatsuki leader had left the village, eighty years ago. Itachi had never truly trusted the long lived Uchiha. For years, he'd only trusted master Jiraiya. And the old man's death had hit him harder than he was willing to admit.

Itachi groaned inwardly, his hand going to his wounds again. He could hardly believe he was still moving around. He _had_ just battled his otouto, after all. Originally, he'd planned to let Sasuke kill him, putting up a good fight of course; he was never one to go down easily. But after running into Sakura Haruno, it seemed all his delicately laid plans had unravelled and he'd found a reason to live, at least to continue his existence in some shape or form. But what future could they possibly have? There was no going back to the leaf, no hope that the elders would let him run free again, even if they had his chakra network cut off and ANBU following his every move, day and night.

There was no future alongside Sakura he could logically envision, and he so wanted it to happen.

Itachi drew his fingers away from his wound to observe the blood. It was seeping out of him now, but he desperately _needed_ to see Sakura, even if she couldn't heal him. That fight had taken a lot out of him. And despite what Sasuke had turned into, that rage fuelled psychopath, he couldn't help but feel proud that he had come so far, so fast. Yeah, that was a little twisted, but he couldn't help how he felt. He could still remember the days when his brother's face would turn a distinct shade of pink when he told Sasuke about the latest girl he liked. Itachi never shared his inner thoughts with people, but every once and while, he liked to make Sasuke blush just for the hell of it.

But that blushing child had disappeared over night of course, and as far as Itachi could tell, Sasuke seemingly had no interest in women. He just hoped he didn't go the other way. He still had hope the Uchiha clan could be revived, even now.

Itachi narrowed his eyes, resisting the urge to activate his Sharingan, knowing that would only hinder him in his current condition. A figure was approaching the main gate into the Uchiha compound. Who would be coming straight _here_, of all places? His question was answered a moment later by the revelation that this person had short pink hair. He felt his face shift, his lips parting slightly, and forming a smile; his heart started to race.

There was no missing that hair, those green eyes, or that _figure_… She looked so sad, so withdrawn, it tugged at him, and he felt an irresistible urge jump down from the tree, hold her close and rain kissed down upon her. His body moved before he had time to think it through, and her name escaped his lips.

"Sakura."

X X X

She had forgotten what it was like to be loved, to be accepted wholly and completely. Days and nights were spent alone and crying, some more painful than others, and she had given up on Kami having her best interest at heart. There was no future for her. Everyone else had their lives to be getting on with, while she was rigid, not moving, not seeing and never having the same drive to move forward. So she dedicated her time to her duties and healing the pain of others, all awhile ignoring her own.

But every day since that night on the park bench, Sakura Haruno had been hoping that Sasuke Uchiha would remember her promise and once he'd gotten his revenge, he would return to Konoha and she would welcome him back with open arms. Naruto Uzumaki would be bouncing all over the place, shouting his happiness to the world, never tiring, and never giving up: his persistence and loyalty paying off. Then Team Seven would reform and things would go back to what it had once been, before the darkness had claimed their team mate. They would forget the pain and Sasuke would shower her with love and make the years spent alone and waiting for him seem worthwhile. They would marry, revive the Uchiha clan together and she would get her happy ending after all.

'_What a stupid, fucked up dream.'_

She realised this now. There was no good left in Sasuke Uchiha. There was only hate and anger, and that hereditary desire for power. It had wormed its way into him and he'd welcomed it without question. It was all he was good for in the end. Did she care? Of course, she cared that she had lost a friend to the darkness. And with him, a part of her had died that day. But he was gone, even if his body remained, moving and killing as though the humanity hadn't actually been cut out of him. But there was only one saving grace for him now, one reason he might yet survive.

Itachi Uchiha.

Sakura was in love with the older brother. She knew it. She had hated him for years, seeing what he had done to Sasuke and Naruto. She had believed the rumours, the conjectures, the facts stated so clearly in the bingo book. But then she'd actually _met_ the man, spent time in his company and realised who he _really_ was. Sure, he'd slaughtered his clan, and tormented Sasuke that same night. Yeah, he'd returned years later to continue the torture, pushing Sasuke to hate him even more, as though there was even more depths either Uchiha could plummet to. And of course, Naruto was afraid of him and the things the Akatsuki had planned for him. That was even more fuel for the part of Sakura that had fantasised about the death of Itachi Uchiha.

But dammit, Sakura was in love with him!

That was all that mattered to her, that and the truth of _his_ suffering, the anguish he had willingly showed her. He had brought her back from the brink of insanity and the death that Sasuke had pushed her toward. A part of her had died when Sasuke left that night, right? He seemed to have thought _that_ wasn't enough though, and it was Itachi of all people who had lifted her out of her own darkness.

"Sakura, please, I need your help."

Itachi stood in front of her now, having dropped down from the tree he'd been crouching on, watching as she examined the Fuuin Jutsu that had long since sealed off the Uchiha estate. The mere sight of him took her breath away, the smile on her face widening as he walked up to her. She barely registered his words as she pulled him toward her, to prove to herself that he was real, and not some twisted genjutsu. He was real, he was solid, and she thanked Kami as he wrapped his arms around her.

"You're alive," she whispered.

"Sakura, what did I tell you? Don't go counting me out yet."

She moaned expectantly and he chuckled softly. It was him alright. Then she registered what he had said and pulled away from him.

"Are you hurt?"

"I will heal."

She parted the Akatsuki cloak which he still wore and examined his torso with her chakra. He was torn, bloodied and clearly in pain. How had he made it back here like this? He shouldn't even be able to stand right now. She pried the cloak off of him, ignoring it as it fell to the ground silently and focused on healing his wounds, not looking up at him the entire time.

Itachi was looking down at her with wonder in his eyes, unable to hide this emotion, even though she didn't notice. He had heard that her medical skills now far outstripped Lady Tsunade's, but had not thought on this the entire time she was in the safe house she had spent the last two and a half months recuperating in. The moment her hands touched him, the pain faded and all he could feel was her chakra surging through him, mending him.

Somehow he doubted even Tsunade could accomplish _that_.

"Wait," he said, "I need your help –"

"What do you think I'm doing?" She asked, not bothering to hide the impatience in her voice.

"– with Sasuke."

Sakura stopped, not finished with what she was doing. He was mostly healed, though. But instead of giving her a heart attack, he really should be resting up. Somehow, she doubted he would agree with her though.

"S-Sasuke?"

He nodded. "Please Sakura."

She didn't want to do it. She didn't want to heal the _fiend_ that had tormented her and left her to die in the worst way she could imagine.

'_No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!'_

Why was he asking this of her? Sakura looked up into that placid expression, her eyes raking over his handsome features, those lines on his cheeks that made him look older than his age; the tear troughs drawing her attention, she wanted desperately to run her forefingers along them and watch the reaction in his eyes. His face was calm, those dark grey eyes surveying her patiently. Did he believe she would not deny him? He had healed her, saved her from the torment inflicted on her by his brother, and what had she done for him? She owed him, she knew this, but to heal the very same person who had made her so weak, so hurt, how could she ever explain that away to Konoha?

'_Wait, if I heal him and take him to Tsunade…'_

The thought had merit.

But she needed to bring Itachi in with her as well. If they went to the council and told them everything about Itachi, then they'd reintegrate him and…

'_There I go, dreaming the impossible again.'_

Danzou had been the one to personally order Itachi to wipe out his clan in the first place; but there was no way to prove it, not to the close minded idiots on the council. But how was she supposed to be with Itachi and not have to sneak out of the village every time? She couldn't keep up the lies for the rest of her life. Tsunade, Naruto, and Hinata all knew she had slept with Itachi, and that he had reciprocated her feelings, but they were the people she was closest to, as well as Kakashi; she was suddenly worried about lying to the copy ninja any further. Perhaps if she told him in Tsunade's presence? She shook herself.

'_First things first.'_

Sakura nodded her head to Itachi. "Take me to him."

Itachi bent to pick up his Akatsuki cloak, but didn't put it back on. He didn't take her hand or anything, and she walked alongside him, their hands brushing a few times before she realised where they were headed. The woods surrounding Konoha were actually the result of the Mokuton ability of the first Hokage; this wood jutsu was now only alive in Yamato Sensei, the man experimented upon by Orochimaru. Sakura knew that there were parts of these woods that the Uchiha clan had once upon a time patrolled personally, and for the first time since Itachi had told her days ago about a secret passage into the Uchiha compound, she wondered if the passage had been the reason for those patrols. No-one else would be able to find it if say perhaps, only a Sharingan wielder could detect it.

Suddenly excited, she hastened her pace as Itachi started to walk a little faster. She noted the limp in his walk, though it was only slight. She hadn't finished healing him, and fully intended to put him _before_ working on Sasuke. He had no right to expect her not to, and she was steeling herself for that disagreement when he stopped suddenly, and she almost ran into him. Looking around, she couldn't see anything different about this area of woods. Where was the entrance into the Uchiha district?

Itachi cocked his head to the right and upward. He was indicating to the direction of Konoha and waited for Sakura to realise what was standing right in front of her. It was so cute, the way she scrutinised the trees, the bark and lifted her eyes to the canopy above their heads. There was a genjutsu over this area that the Uchiha elders had built upon every generation, starting from the time Madara had been ostracised from the clan. They hadn't wanted him getting back in. His mere presence spelled trouble.

It didn't surprise Itachi that Sakura didn't see it right away, even though she _was_ rumoured to be highly adept with this type of jutsu. The first reason was that firstly, one had to realise there was an entrance into the Uchiha district here in the first place, and the second was that even though the Sharingan was normally needed to see it, it could otherwise be seen if said person was in the company of someone with the Sharingan.

After all, even when the clan _had_ been around, the number of Uchiha who could actually wield the kekkei genkai was unremarkable. They stood in the minority.

Sakura gasped softly a moment later, her eyes landing on a tree that wasn't a tree. It rested against a wall that she hadn't noticed, and employing the release technique she'd learnt years ago from Kakashi, she could at least see that behind that unreal tree was a door; it looked worn and rusted shut, made from the same material as the wall that had only just appeared, almost invisible itself.

This time, Itachi took Sakura's hand in his, and she was reminded of the genjutsu around the small hut he'd kept her in for the last two and a half months, during her recovery. And true enough, she felt the familiar sensation that something was trying to stop her from entering; this was far stronger than the one around the cabin, as though the spirits of the clan were personally forbidding her entrance.

'_Well, too bad,' _she thought, reacting in her mind as though they were standing right in front of her.

They walked through the underground passage quickly, quietly and thoughtful. Itachi mused on the quirk of fate that had brought them both here, while Sakura couldn't keep her mind off of his _closeness_, and the way his fingers had entwined with hers. It was such an affectionate move from him, that she couldn't keep her thoughts straight. She forgot that she was about to heal her tormentor and let Itachi lead her out of the dark tunnel and into the soft light that met their eyes at the end. The sun was high in the sky, not quite at its pinnacle as it was not quite mid-day, and she was surprised at the density of the air.

Sakura had never been inside the Uchiha estate before now of course, and therefore had no memory to compare this to, but somehow, she could _feel_ that this place was different to how it had once been. It wasn't just the deplorable state of the dead shrubbery and trees, as well as broken slabs of cement and wood that were once used in the construction of now derelict buildings and garden fixtures. The sealing jutsu that kept people out seemed to also be keeping something _in_.

Although it sounded ridiculous, Sakura couldn't help but think it was true.

After a few minutes, she spotted the unconscious form of Sasuke Uchiha. She stopped walking and Itachi indulged her, waiting for her to _want_ to move forward. She stared at Sasuke, gripping Itachi's hand tighter as every instinct shouted at her to turn away and run. She hadn't forgiven him, how could she? But when she thought about it, what had she really expected from Sasuke Uchiha? He had chosen the darker path, so where else was he going to end up? This thought pained her, despite everything.

Psyching herself up, she started walking again, actually pulling on Itachi's hand slightly. They stopped again, just short of Sasuke.

"I'm healing _your_ wounds first," she said, turning to face the former Uchiha heir.

He nodded compliantly, knowing already that she would demand this. Really, she was more predictable than she realised. He felt the familiar warmth of her chakra, and the _heat_ from her touch. He closed his eyes, just enjoying her touch, and snapped his eyelids open the next second, rousing on himself. There were more important things right now then giving in to what he wanted... for now.

Itachi removed her hands from his torso, knowing that she was delaying the inevitable.

"I am fine Sakura."

She nodded her head and reluctantly, turned and knelt down in front of Sasuke. He was obviously still breathing, but there was a clear strain on the rise and fall of his chest. She wondered exactly _what_ Itachi had done to him, but then a moment later, her hands on his skin and the healing chakra getting started, she realised that yes, his wounds were severe, but he was only unconscious because Itachi had knocked him out. It had to be that weird thing he'd done to _her_, not once but many times during her stay in that small cabin.

She'd have been annoyed with him for doing that so much if most of it had not been about severing that strange Tsukuyomi that Sasuke had put her under in the first place.

Sakura redirected her attention to her "patient", forcing his body to heal itself. She sensed that he would remain unconscious for only a few more hours, so she needed to hurry this up. When he woke up, he would be pissed. Her eyes stayed closed the entire time; she didn't want to look at him. He still occupied a part of her thoughts, though not for the same reasons he used to. And yeah, she could admit it, she still found him attractive. But that had been a lame enough excuse to fall for him in the first place, and she certainly wasn't going to let it control her now.

'_Now that I know better.'_

Sakura stood, having finished, opened her eyes again, and turned to face Itachi.

"What now?" She asked. "He's healed. Do we send him on his merry way, to pillage and murder some more, or are you going to let me take you _both_ back, right now?"

The sarcasm in her voice was not lost on Itachi, and for the first time since their intimate encounter four days ago, she surprised him. He weighed his words carefully, not wanting her angry at him.

"I can't go back Sakura."

She looked ready to pummel him. "Why?"

"I would not be welcome."

"You can show them what happened," she said, verging on tears now. "You can prove to the council that you're innocent."

"I'm not innocent, Sakura."

"You were ordered to kill your clan!" She snapped, raising her voice as the tears stung in her eyes. "Danzou tricked you!"

He lifted a hand, reached out toward her, and then stopped himself from touching her. He couldn't do that, not when he _had_ to leave. No, he _needed_ to hold her. Itachi pulled her into a deep, sensual kiss. It was a kiss goodbye. She couldn't stop the tears now, as he held her tight, giving into his desire to feel her body against his once more. They both wanted nothing more than to lie down, right now, and give themselves wholly and completely to each other, but they were both _very_ aware of the unconscious body of his brother, only two feet away. Itachi pulled away from her, and pressed their foreheads together, struggling to breathe; for him, it wasn't as obvious, but _she_ was half panting.

"Take Sasuke to the Hokage," he said. "I _will_ see you again Sakura, I promise. But I can't come back to the village."

"Yes you _can_!" She half sobbed, trying not to sound like the ridiculous idiot who had begged Sasuke to stay almost five years ago. "You can, if you really want to."

She gripped him tightly, but he was stronger than her, faster too. Before she could stop him, he'd stepped away from her and performed a hand sign she didn't recognise. His body dispersed, breaking into a murder; the crows disappeared a moment later. She swallowed heavily. At the last possible moment, before leaving, he'd whispered to her. These were words no-one had ever said to her; words she had hungered for her entire life.

"_I love you."_

She stood still for a moment, just wishing as hard as she could that he was still standing in front of her. Sakura let out a sob, glaring at Sasuke as the younger Uchiha slept on, unaware. She would hold Itachi to his promise, and even if she had to track him down personally, she was going to see him again. And this time, he was coming back with her! She wiped away her tears, sniffling and forcing herself to calm down. But for now, she was going to do as she was told. She lifted Sasuke over her shoulder, surprised by his light weight, carried him through the secret passage and exited the Uchiha estate. She had no idea how to otherwise circumvent the Fuuin Jutsu.

Sakura walked solemnly as she made her way through the woods, and re-entered the village hidden in the leaves.

X X X

**A/N: Okay, testing the waters for this fic.  
>There's not as much happening in this first chapter as I'd first anticipated, but I decided I wanted it to end on this note. Next chapter is figured out by not typed up, so I can say with all honesty that it has more going on. After all, Sasuke is back in the leaf, and this alone is enough to stir things up! ;D<strong>

**For now, please review! Love ya, ciao!**


	2. Elderly Concerns

**A/N: Check chapter 1 for the storyline differences. Another important point I forgot to point out is that this Itachi is actually stronger than the canon.  
>Thanks to<strong> ItaSaku-ness, gunitatsuhiko, cherrys-and-strawberrys, **and** Hana-Taisho **for reviewing chapter 1.**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 2 – Elderly Concerns.

"_When the truth is reduced to silence, in the face of doubt or fear, the lies are the only thing anyone can hear."_

It was still morning, not so early; the sun was almost at its peak, but Konoha had settled into a somewhat peaceful slumber. It was a Sunday after all. But the Shinobi district was a bustle, with missions not slacking off, despite the day of the week. It was just _less_ busy, for the most part. The smell of food wafted through the commerce parts of the village, with aromas to tantalise the senses and items for sale that had both civilian and ninja.

There was no way to pass through unseen while carrying the unconscious form of Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno wanted to avoid the stares. She felt so exhausted, like she was carrying Katsuyu, Tsunade's summons, instead of an S rank criminal. She ignored the stares, the pointed whispers and concerned expressions, wishing it was midnight instead of almost midday. Sakura was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, above the heads of the people below, but both civilians and ninjas alike could easily spot her pink hair. It was just one of many reasons she'd never tried out for ANBU.

Grateful that no-one tried to stop her or find out how she'd managed to find Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura made straight for the Hokage's tower. The inside of the building was potentially cumbersome with the load she was carrying, so she pushed herself up to Tsunade's window. She really did _not_ want to hang around and explain what she was doing to some random worker or ninja in the building.

But upon entering unannounced and casting her eyes over the room, Sakura was surprised to find her shishou fast asleep, her head on the paperwork on her desk. This was unusual for this time of day, as Tsunade would only fall asleep doing paperwork when it was two or five in the morning and she'd been up all night. Of course, there was only one reason the pinkette could think of that would have made her shishou _this_ tired during the day.

'_Me.'_

She had spent the better part of the morning working alongside Hinata Hyuuga, unblocking Sakura's chakra points, already exhausted before they'd started. Sakura remembered telling her it would be okay if they waited a few hours for her to rest, but Tsunade had promptly ignored her. Sasuke was the one who had sealed the pinkette's chakra, and ironically was the reason Sakura was back in the Hokage's office so soon.

She dropped Sasuke unceremoniously on the couch in the corner of the room and stepped away to stare dispassionately at her shishou. She wasn't going to try to wake her by throttling her, like she felt like doing, remembering the last time Kotetsu and Izumo had tried to do that. She'd sent them flying through her window, but it _had_ been at two o'clock in the morning that time.

So Sakura cleared her throat and said her shishou's name several times to rouse her. The older woman stirred and looked up groggily, paperwork sticking to the side of her face. Sakura smiled slightly, wishing she had a camera on her. It was moments like this that really made her day. Her smile widened as the Hokage had to tug on the paperwork to get it off of her face.

"Give me a break Sakura," Tsunade said sleepily. "I was up until five o'clock this morning doing paperwork, got an hour to sleep and then there was your session as well. And an hour ago, Naruto bombarded me with some stupid rant about his new missions being child's play and refused to leave until I'd promised to pay for his next meal at Ichiraku's –"

Sakura forced her smile to fade. "Oh of course shishou."

She thumbed toward the couch where she'd dumped Sasuke and watched in barely contained interest as Tsunade blinked heavily before focusing her brown eyes on the sight. The slug queen bolted out of her chair and darted over to the Uchiha, stunned and now _very_ wide awake.

"How did you –"

"He'll wake soon," Sakura interrupted. "So I would suggest sealing his chakra straight away."

Sakura had no intention of trying to do it herself. She still felt as though she wasn't at full strength from her ordeal, and carrying him here had taken more effort than she had expected. She really needed to _sleep_.

Tsunade stared at her student, worried by the lack of emotion in her voice. True, the younger Uchiha had tortured her and left her for dead, but there had to be a part of her that still wanted him back in the village. After all, why else would the brat be drooling on the Hokage's sofa? Then the blonde realised what the issue was, cursing herself for not thinking about it earlier.

'_Itachi.'_

_He _must be the reason Sasuke was here, unconscious and unaware of his predicament.

Tsunade tilted her head, sensing the presence of an ANBU outside her window.

"Take him to Ibiki," she said, still staring at Sakura, but talking to the ANBU. "Be sure he seals the Uchiha's chakra right away."

The masked operative came into the room, moving lithely over to Sasuke and using Shunshin to disappear. Watching the man's movements, Sakura realised this was an ANBU she had yet to meet. She'd gotten to know some, through her medical duties lately, even though she couldn't see their faces. If she'd been in ANBU, she would be allowed to know who they all were, although she believed she had been able to guess rather accurately anyway. It wasn't like there was some law against figuring it out, whether or not the ANBU in question was obvious under the mask or not. The entire organisation was elite, the best of the best, but some things were obvious no matter what they did. They lived in the same village after all, and the operatives were not required to wear their masks when not on duty.

Sakura personally, had no intention of even trying out for the ANBU. Their methods freaked her out; she was a medic and wanted only to _help_ people.

Groaning softly, Tsunade walked back over to her desk and sat back down, never breaking eye contact with her kouhai. Sakura waited for her shishou to bring Itachi into the conversation. Well, to _start_ a conversation and then raise the topic of the former Uchiha heir. They stared each other down, both trying to think of the best way to go about this topic, although it was only the older Kunoichi who was taking it seriously. Sakura was thinking about how to avoid telling her that Itachi had left her behind. She couldn't help but feel angry with him, despite every fibre of her being screaming for his touch, to hear that deep, sexy voice and to know he would never leave her again. But there was something else she hadn't realised until now, something that his expression before he disappeared, breaking into a murder of crows.

Itachi Uchiha was up to something.

It was the only explanation. He was planning something under those dark grey eyes, something he didn't want her to be a part of. And of course, she realised another reason he didn't immediately come back with her would be because of Danzou Shimura. Perhaps he thought the old man would have him executed on the spot, but then why had he asked Sakura to heal Sasuke only to send his brother into the senile freak's waiting arms?

She couldn't figure him out.

Tsunade, finally deciding what she wanted to say, started to speak.

"Sakura, where is –"

And then she stopped abruptly, Sakura's questioning expression answered by a knock on the door behind her.

"Enter."

Kakashi Hatake entered the room, no Icha Icha book in hand, but a serene expression nonetheless (as far as Sakura could tell, but she knew him well enough). He also looked rather interested in the pinkette all of a sudden.

"I heard you were seen carrying Sasuke Uchiha into the Hokage Building," he said calmly.

She only nodded her head, the lack of emotion on her face now confusing him. He knew she'd been kidnapped by Sasuke a little over three months ago, and had escaped. His respect for her privacy had kept him from inquiring on what had happened between her and her first crush, but now he _really_ wanted to know.

"Is that the only reason you came here Hatake?" Tsunade asked, annoyed by his interruption. She _really_ wanted to ask Sakura about Itachi.

Kakashi raised his single eyebrow at her, surprised. It would appear he had just interrupted something very important, but was in no hurry to leave. If he played the innocent act, perhaps he could stick around and find out what that _something_ was. Without drawing attention to his actions, he took note of the absence of any hint that Sasuke was in the room, but Kakashi's sense of smell was remarkable for someone not of the Inuzuka clan – more remarkable than he ever admitted – and he knew Sasuke's scent, even if he _did_ need Pakkun's help to track it over long distances. He could _smell_ Sasuke on Sakura, albeit faintly.

Kakashi shook his head at his Hokage.

"My concern also brought me here Hokage-sama. Sasuke was my student after all, and Sakura as well."

Tsunade sighed, losing the frustration in her voice. "You're right. But this matter is more delicate than you think. Sakura?"

Zoning in and out of the conversation as her thoughts surrounded Itachi, Sakura zoned back into it in time to hear her name repeated for the third time.

"Y-yes shishou?"

"How did you manage to find Sasuke Uchiha?"

Sakura blinked heavily at her. She was leaving it up to her whether or not to mention Itachi in Kakashi's presence. The pinkette considered this. Regardless of Itachi's decision not to come back with her, the issue of his survival was bound to crop up, especially once the elders find out what has happened. Kakashi was then bound to find out. They would discover what had happened between Sasuke and Itachi, be it through Ibiki Morino's interrogation technique or Inoichi Yamanaka's. So how hurt would her former Sensei be if he found out that she had told everyone she trusted implicitly except for _him_?

'_Very.'_

She sighed. "Itachi led me to him."

Kakashi didn't know how to respond to this. He looked between both women in the room, realising they were gauging _his_ reaction and not staring each other down. Then he realised that something was going on between Sakura Haruno and Itachi Uchiha, and Tsunade already knew about it. He didn't know what to think about _this_ either.

"Sakura," he said slowly, "have you seen Itachi Uchiha recently, other than him leading you to Sasuke?"

She nodded her head, her green eyes intense on the dark hue of his single eye. Kakashi glanced at the Hokage, trying to evaluate the situation. They both knew Sakura had seen Itachi, and then the S rank criminal had led her to his younger brother, who he didn't _kill_, and now Sasuke was… probably with Ibiki by now, and his chakra bound. Sakura was not physically harmed, not a scratch on her, so she hadn't been forced to fight the Akatsuki member, nor Sasuke. So this meant that Itachi had not laid a hand on her. Weird.

"What's going on?" Kakashi asked, unable to come to any conclusion other than Itachi had had no intention of harming Sakura, which was… weird.

Tsunade double checked they were alone and Sakura explained everything to Kakashi. She was kidnapped by Sasuke, held for two and a half weeks before she escaped, left for dead in some torturous version of Tsukuyomi, then found and healed by Itachi. Kakashi was stunned with every word, his shock increasing as she told him of those two and a half months she'd spent recuperating, the images of Itachi's life she'd seen and the fact that the two of them had fallen in love.

Kakashi flashed back to something Ibiki Morino had told him shortly after the interrogation he'd done on Sakura when she returned to the leaf.

"_She's been through a lot Kakashi, more than she's telling, I'm certain of it. But the Hokage is insistent that no more need be said. This is all I know…"_

The silver haired Shinobi nodded his head slowly, understanding. "You're in love with Itachi Uchiha."

It was a statement, not a question.

"Does Naruto know?"

She nodded and he sighed.

"So I'm the last to be told."

Another statement.

"I'm sorry Kakashi Sensei," Sakura said.

He decided not to dwell on this. "What about Sasuke? What does he know?"

"The Uchiha is still unconscious," Tsunade said. "His chakra is bound to have been blocked by now. Perhaps we should go see how Ibiki is doing with his new inmate."

"You'll do nothing of the sort."

The elderly council members, followed by Danzou Shimura, entered the room without knocking. Sakura looked slightly startled, but Tsunade knew they had only overheard the end of that conversation, and _not_ the parts about Itachi. She nodded her head softly to Sakura, to assure her.

"And why _not_?" Tsunade snapped.

"You captured an S rank criminal and sent him to Ibiki without informing us," Homura Mitokado said gruffly. "We require an explanation as to why you did not think to let us know."

Sakura stepped out of their way and closer to Kakashi as all three of them walked over to the Hokage. Danzou was the only one sparing a glance for Sakura – obviously, he had heard the rumours about _how_ Sasuke had returned. The pinkette ignored him, but had to force herself not to punch his ugly face. He was the reason Itachi and Sasuke both ended up as missing-nin. _He_ had ordered the slaughter of the Uchiha clan, manipulating the thirteen year old heir into killing his own family. A coup by the Uchiha could have been prevented without genocide. Looking back at the memories that Itachi had shared with her, Sakura wasn't sure _how_, but was certain that the third, had he known about the coup, would have found a way.

"It's only just happened," Tsunade said calmly, her face showing how annoyed she felt. "I have barely had time to send Sasuke to Ibiki via an ANBU that happened to be in the area; _that's_ why."

"He should be executed at once," Danzou said remorselessly, his face composed.

Sakura clenched her fists, but let them go as Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking his head minutely.

"Normally," Koharu Utatane said, "I'd agree with you. But Sasuke Uchiha is now the only connection we have to the Akatsuki. With Jiraiya dead, we need to know what is going on in the aftermath of Pein's death."

"The Uchiha brat won't know what's going on," Danzou said. "He isn't Akatsuki."

"You know very well that Sasuke's Team Taka was recently approached by several Akatsuki members," Tsunade growled at him. "Don't pretend to have forgotten."

This had been reported by an ANBU squad that was following a dummy trail left behind by Konan after her split from the organisation. Kakashi chuckled softly, drawing attention to himself, but not regretting this.

"And let's not forget," he said good-naturedly, "that it was by master Jiraiya's words we know he had a spy in the Akatsuki. We need to find out who that was, or should I say _is_."

Sakura looked up at him cautiously. She had mentioned it was Itachi to him, right? She couldn't remember. _Had_ she relayed that to Kakashi? She suddenly couldn't remember if she'd even said it to Tsunade, Naruto, and Hinata, let alone under the interrogation of Ibiki and Inoichi. The pinkette dwelled on this for a moment, very aware that Kakashi's hand was still on her shoulder.

"I highly doubt the Uchiha brat knows who was slipping Jiraiya valuable information," Danzou scoffed.

"But he would know more than we do," Tsunade said.

Homura and Koharu both nodded in unison and Danzou was outvoted.

"Then the priority," Koharu said, "is now on the interrogation of Sasuke Uchiha. You sent him to Ibiki, Lady Tsunade, but wouldn't Inoichi's skills be more appropriate?"

The Hokage shrugged her shoulders. "I promised Ibiki a long time ago if we ever managed to capture Sasuke then he could conduct the interrogation, well at least the _first_ one."

Sakura had to force herself not to chuckle. Her shishou was making light of the debate, a little white lie so that she didn't have to explain why she wanted Ibiki to try first. It surprised the pinkette, quite often, how forceful the elders tried to be in their questioning of the Hokage. They never learnt their lesson though, trying the same tactics over and over with her.

"I think it's about time you told us _how_ Sasuke Uchiha was brought back to Konoha," Danzou said, and all eyes, whether intentionally or not, landed on Sakura.

She knew what he wanted, but was in no mood to comply. Sakura had no intention of telling Danzou about Itachi unless Tsunade ordered her to. He would not hesitate to order his Root members to chase him down and make sure Itachi was "accidentally" killed in the process. The Hokage was also in no hurry to broach that subject right now.

"That can wait," she said. "Sakura?"

She indicated to her star medical apprentice. "Follow me."

The elders protested but Tsunade ignored them. Kakashi followed the Hokage and his former student, his assumption on their destination proven correct when they left the Hokage Building, moved quickly over the rooftops of Konoha and came to rest in front of the main entrance for the building for the ANBU black ops Torture and Interrogation Core. He was curious as to whether or not Sasuke was awake yet as well.

X X X

He had no intention of never seeing her again. Itachi Uchiha could never live his life knowing he had been with Sakura Haruno, and then left her behind. He wasn't the type to take anything for granted, and he'd spent two and a half months in the woman's company and helping her, waiting for her to get stronger. The days had passed painfully for him, since he'd known she would have to return to the leaf eventually; he didn't want her to leave him: he _needed_ her. But she belonged in Konoha, where Tsunade could unblock her chakra and her friends would welcome her back with open arms.

He had no idea where _he_ belonged, except with her.

Itachi could still remember the longing in him, the strength with which he had had to resist touching her more than necessary. While he was helping her recover, his thoughts had surprised him. He'd had sexual urges before, and fulfilled them, but his desire for the pink haired Kunoichi was so _different_. He had been continually and pleasantly surprised by her strength, her resilience and the way she was making him feel. Itachi was naive when it came to women and love. Jiraiya had told him once that falling in love was like falling off a steep cliff with no chakra control. Love was an adrenaline rush right up until the moment you flattened flatter than a pancake on the ground below.

He wondered briefly if those books the late pervert had written really _were_ as sleazy as he'd heard.

Still, Sakura's constant presence in that small cabin had gotten him thinking. She made him want to live past his fight with Sasuke, and he'd known all his life he was sick. When he used his Sharingan the pain worsened, but he bore it for the sake of his missions, and then later, for the sake of his intentions with Sasuke. He needed to stay on alert at all times as a missing-nin – there was no choice. This was why he kept his Sharingan active longer than necessary. And it was killing him.

Itachi started moving again, having watched Sakura re-enter the village to ensure she did as he asked and brought Sasuke home. He knew that Danzou Shimura would want him executed, but trusted that the potentially valuable information Sasuke might have on the Akatsuki would give Tsunade an excuse to keep him alive. This was just a temporary solution to Itachi's immediate concern. The fifth Hokage was predictable. He knew she would question Sakura on how Sasuke had ended up in her custody, but wondered what the younger Kunoichi would say.

'_First things first.'_

Itachi glanced briefly over his shoulder, and back toward Konoha, a longing tugging at him, but he forced himself to continue on, leaving the territory of the village hidden in the leaves. He had no idea how long it would take to find what he was looking for. It had occurred to him to let this fall to leaf ninja, to just give himself up and hope that the council wouldn't execute him on the spot, regardless of his knowledge of the inner workings of the Akatsuki; they wouldn't need both Uchiha brothers alive to extract information.

It wasn't fear keeping him from returning with Sakura, more his ANBU training. The council would need proof, like Sakura had told him. He knew she was right.

Eventually, Itachi realised he was being followed. He made no move to evade this shadow however, knowing it was futile. Someone had known he was nearby, despite the care he'd taken to enter Konoha unseen, and leave just as quietly. He watched this person out of the corner of his eye, using his Sharingan to keep track of their movements. They were keeping their distance well, not getting too close, and if he hadn't been specifically trained by the elite ANBU black ops of the village hidden in the leaves, he might not have noticed this tail.

Curious as to what his faceless pursuer wanted, Itachi decided to take them on a wild goose chase, heading north, in the general direction of the Valley of the End, as though he was heading toward the small village called Tatsuma Town. He had been there several times, it wasn't big on the entertainment side, with nothing to occupy one's time unless one happened to live or work there. But Itachi had made some seedy contacts in there over the years, and he never went in without casting a henge over himself. The people there were well aware of the missing-nin listed in the bingo book, and therefore knew of his status as an S rank criminal and would sell him out faster than he could blink.

The contacts he had made there were Akatsuki contacts however, like an underground movement that wasn't really _moving_ anywhere. Pein had authorised him to promise them money in return for their help, but with the leader dead and the true puppeteer revealed, Itachi doubted the money was still flowing into this sleazy town.

Itachi changed his direction, watching as his ninja shadow did the same. Up ahead was a small field, and plenty of room to fight in. If this guy wanted to fight, it was the last place he was ever going to see.

'_Unless he's a Konoha Shinobi.'_

Over the years, he had done a remarkable job of avoiding unnecessary deaths. And more often than not, the survivors were leaf ninja. He would forever be grateful that the fates awarded him the comfort that he had never killed anyone from his own village, since that night, almost nine years ago. Slaughtering his own clan had been the final straw for him. He'd planned it out, put contingency upon contingency until he was sure that nothing could go wrong. Killing the Uchiha clan was the last time he'd killed anyone from Konoha. And he'd _overly_ prepared himself for the act itself.

'_But not the repercussions.'_

He had been more traumatised by that night than he'd ever admitted, even to himself. Sasuke had come home late, as Itachi had expected, but did not notice the genjutsu in the air. None of them had. It took someone with the Mangekyō Sharingan to see it, and there had been none with it, other than Itachi. That wasn't to say they'd gone down easy of course.

Itachi broke out of the forest and stopped himself in the dead centre of the small clearing he had spied, using his Sharingan. Turning to face his pursuer, he recognised that angry face immediately. This girl had been on Sasuke's team, _Taka_ they called themselves. The redhead spat at him, her words venomous.

"What have you done with my Sasuke-kun?"

X X X

**A/N: Rewrote this several times and changed what I originally had in mind. But it still ended on the same note. Hope you liked it. Please review! Love ya, ciao!**


	3. Enemies

**A/N: Check chapter 1 for the storyline differences. Another important point I forgot to point out is that this Itachi is actually stronger than the canon. **

**This is coming out slower than I anticipated, but it IS coming, so thank you to everyone for being so patient with me! Love you lots. ^_^  
>Thanks to<strong> gunitatsuhiko, xKumaBearx, ItaSaku-ness, Hana-Taisho, ItaSaku1, Rain of the Stars, Mistress Ayako** and **SAKUMADKAK **for reviewing chapter 2.**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 3 – Enemies.

"_If they build their fortress out of sticks and stones, who is to blame for why the fire still burns them?"_

He shouldn't have been surprised; he didn't know why he _was_. Itachi Uchiha stared dispassionately into the angry red eyes boring into him, remaining silent to Karin's question. She knew she was no match for him, so why would she track and confront a man who everyone believed would kill her on sight? Surely her infatuation for Sasuke did not blind her to the danger she was in. That would be completely stupid, even more so than anything he'd heard of Sakura doing for his otouto.

He inwardly cringed at that thought. There was no need to dwell on _that_.

She shifted her body and repeated her question. Itachi sighed. He fully intended to attack her, considering she wasn't going to just go away without an answer and the question was not one he saw as pertinent: not to the whole. As a seasoned ANBU, he'd learnt not to let the trifles of minutia get in the way of what needed to be done. He'd incorporated that into everything in his life, before becoming a missing-nin, and the many years since. It was a hard habit to break, which was why he was fine with attacking this girl. But he had no intention of actually _killing_ her.

Also, he could see through the façade of confidence she was putting up. She was a sensor, and would only continue to follow him if he left now. There was no way he was going to get to where he was going with her trailing him. It was a place he'd deemed impenetrable, only because he was the only one who knew it was there… well, and Sakura.

'_There I go again,' _he thought, an image of the pink haired Kunoichi flashing across his mind. She had an unyielding hold on him.

"I asked you a question, _freak_," Karin snapped, breaking him out of his reverie. "What have you done with my Sasuke-kun?"

Itachi ignored her question again, trying to focus his thoughts. From what he'd heard about her, she could tell a lie from truth and was capable of seeing through most genjutsu. He doubted she could see through one created and shaped by a Sharingan. But if he lied to her and told her Sasuke was dead, would she believe him?

He activated his Sharingan. There was only one way to find out.

The corner of Karin's mouth twitched when his eyes changed, and he could almost read her thoughts; she was wondering if it wasn't too late to just run away. He contemplated letting her go, but this girl was a problem, a loose end; and he didn't trust her not to cause trouble for Konoha, especially once she found out where Sasuke really was. She held no concern for Konoha's welfare, and he feared what she would do, what powerful allies Sasuke had garnered, that could help her invade the leaf to retrieve him. It sounded ridiculous, but it was fears like this that kept a hidden village from being destroyed by its enemies and allies alike.

Itachi lifted his head.

This girl was scared of him, but she wasn't _completely_ stupid. Her red eyes kept away from his, refusing to become trapped in his Sharingan. But he didn't _need_ her to look him in the eye. He wasn't Sasuke.

Itachi shifted his stance, sending his chakra out in waves like vibrations in the air. It was just genjutsu, but the sensory Kunoichi was trembling nonetheless. He didn't bother with the more advanced versions, as it wasn't necessary against this one, and disappeared out of her line of sight. Karin gave a startled gasp and looked around, but could not see him. The Uchiha appeared behind her, striking at her sternum without breaking the bone and she stumbled forward. It wasn't very strong, but he used her disorientation to spin her around and stare down into her eyes.

He didn't need to do this no, but it was the quickest and easiest way for her to receive what he needed to show her. It was best not to draw this out, for her sake.

Sasuke.

In her mind, she saw his body bloodied and broken. It elicited a more piercing scream from her than he'd expected, but he held onto her anyway. It wasn't like he was forcing her to watch him kill him or anything. Really, for a Kunoichi, this girl was a little slow upstairs. It was clearly a genjutsu, but she was so distraught, so hysterical now, over the possibility of Sasuke being dead that she was taking the meaning of stupidity to a whole other level. But Itachi did feel a twinge of guilt. No-one should have to see the person they loved like this. He wondered how much of a threat this girl could actually be, and why his otouto would bother with her. Sure, she was a natural sensor, but surely there were less _annoying_ people who could've helped him.

Karin let out one long, final blood curdling scream before Itachi released her from the genjutsu. She fell to her knees as she let her go and sobbed into her hands. She seemed not to notice he was still standing there and he sighed as she gasped ruggedly and then fell forward onto the ground, unconscious.

Disconcerted by the whole event, Itachi left her be. He needed to leave, to get out of the area before her companions came looking for her… if they were bothered by her disappearance that is. He honestly wouldn't blame them if they didn't want anything to do with her. The leader that had brought the team together in the first place was gone now, and this Karin person was _annoying_.

X X X

Sakura Haruno was nervous. Sure, she'd healed Sasuke Uchiha, carried his unconscious body into Konoha, in front of hundreds of potential witnesses, and still had the presence of mind not to kill him. Itachi didn't want him dead. But she was scared now, of the look on his face when he would inevitably discover that she was both alive and well. Would he be angry and try again, despite his chakra being blocked, or would he be as terrified of her as she was of him?

The possibilities ran through her head as she walked through the building for the ANBU black ops Torture and Interrogation Core; the narrowed eyes, the discreet glances from Kakashi Hatake as he walked along side of her, probably wondering what either of them would say and who would say it next. She'd spent the majority of her life wanting him, crying over him and desperate to find him. Could she really expect to be rid of him now that he was suddenly within arm's reach?

Sakura swallowed heavily as she followed Kakashi and Lady Tsunade, ignoring the occasional twitch of his head as he kept her in the corner of his eye. He was definitely weighing the conversation they'd had in the Hokage's office in his head. And knowing her former Sensei, he was already figuring out that she didn't want to be here, that she wanted to go find Itachi, and she never wanted to see Sasuke Uchiha ever again.

But short of Itachi suddenly turning around and coming back on his own, there was nothing she could do.

Well normally that would be her belief. But she fully intended on badgering Tsunade until she let her leave to find him. She would probably come off as annoying as Naruto, but she didn't care.

'_Naruto.'_

Sakura glanced back the way she'd come as they turned a corner, leading to the lower levels of the building. She should probably tell Naruto what had happened. He'd want to see Sasuke, and she didn't blame him, regardless of what the Uchiha had done to her. If there was even the slightest chance Sasuke could be rehabilitated, Naruto would take it. He would spend every waking hour trying to help him and probably dream about it. Sakura muffled her own giggle, mentally picturing Naruto twitching in his sleep, and _still_ complaining about Sasuke being a stubborn prick.

They stopped outside of the main interrogation room of the lower levels. Only the worst criminals, to be interrogated before being moved to the official prison, were brought in here. Sakura trembled at the sound of someone somewhere screaming. It was distant to her ears, but she felt like the person screaming was standing right next to her. It was no wonder Tsunade had always complained about this division. Even though it often became necessary, it was hardly an attractive job description.

Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder and she sighed deeply. He smiled at her and she nodded.

"Thank you."

"Ibiki," Tsunade said, moving into an observation room, where the head interrogator was waiting.

Ibiki turned to face them as Sakura looked through the one-way glass and spotted the chained Sasuke immediately. He was still unconscious. The sight of him upset her, she didn't know why. No, she wasn't concerned by his predicament. Perhaps the image of her tormentor at the mercy of Ibiki Morino wasn't satiating for her. She had known the moment Itachi asked her to take him back to Konoha that he wouldn't exactly be set up in some comfy, executive suite. He was still the enemy, with knowledge of Akatsuki perhaps, if the rumours were true.

Sakura shook herself and turned away from Sasuke as Kakashi nodded to Ibiki, greeting him stoically.

"Ibiki."

The copy ninja, unlike Sakura, was interested in what the interrogation specialist had in mind for their former team mate.

"I thought you might come down here," Ibiki said in an offhand tone. "But the chicken ass isn't awake yet, so your visit is premature."

Kakashi chuckled. "We can see that."

Ibiki glanced at Sakura before addressing his Hokage. "Might I ask how he was captured? It's always an advantage to know more than the prisoner."

"He was knocked out by Itachi Uchiha and found by Sakura Haruno," Tsunade said vaguely.

"Itachi knocked him out and just left him there?" Ibiki scratched his bald head under the material for his headband. "Why?"

"He wanted us to find him," she said. She glowered at Ibiki until he shifted the conversation.

"I know you think this is a good idea," he said to the Hokage, "but the Uchiha is a ticking time bomb."

"He's harmless without access to his chakra," Tsunade said, unconcerned. "Especially when still unconscious."

Ibiki nodded, his eyes darting to Sakura again. "There's nothing to be done until he wakes up anyway. Sending him to Inoichi Yamanaka would've been better. He'd have the answers we're looking for far quicker."

Tsunade also glanced at Sakura and whispered, "I know."

Kakashi raised his single eyebrow at her. "You're delaying."

She nodded slightly. Ibiki groaned. "Why?"

"Because of Itachi Uchiha," Sakura said softly.

She hadn't spoken the entire time and the sudden sound of her voice startled the three ninja standing near her. She knew Inoichi was the Captain of the Intelligence Division of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force, while Ibiki headed the actual division itself. Surely it didn't sound weird to Ibiki that Tsunade would want him to look Sasuke over first. The Intelligence Division would just have to wait.

Sakura understood Tsunade's caution, what with Danzou Shimura on the prowl, probably trying to figure out if anything might lead back to him. The less he thought they knew the better. But how long were they expected to just pretend not to know that that _worm_ had ordered the death of the Uchiha clan?

Ibiki was dying to know what had happened. When he and Inoichi had both questioned Sakura on Itachi, she was telling the truth, but there was this underlying nagging in the back of his head that it wasn't the whole truth. It was only the fact that she was a leaf Kunoichi and that the Hokage had told him to drop the matter that he didn't pursue it any further. But Sasuke was back in the village, and seemingly, Itachi Uchiha was the reason for that.

So what the _fuck_ was going on?

Sakura decided to put him out of his misery. She told him that not only had Itachi found her after Sasuke had left her for dead, but they'd grown close. He wasn't the sadistic man people thought he was. He was honourable and kind. But she knew he'd killed off his clan. There was no denying the gravity of that act. Ibiki glanced furtively at Tsunade when Sakura mentioned Danzou and the planned Uchiha coup. She didn't hold back, staring at the still form of Sasuke through the glass as she informed Ibiki that Itachi had had her heal his otouto and bring him back to the village.

Ibiki just gawked at her. In all his years, he had never heard such a _strange_ tale. But she was serious, and looking between Tsunade and Kakashi for some sign that the pinkette was lying, the interrogation specialist sighed. But it still left him with a burning question. He frowned at Sakura.

"When you say you grew close to Itachi, did you mean–"

"_Ibiki_!" Tsunade roused and he obediently fell silent, a slight smile on his lips. "You are directed to never repeat what Sakura has just told you, unless I otherwise give you permission. Clear?"

He nodded. "Yes Hokage-sama."

Kakashi chuckled, for like the umpteenth time. "At least it'll make your interrogation more interesting."

Ibiki brightened at that and the Kunoichi in the room rolled their eyes.

The prisoner made a strange sound, as though he was waking up, and at the Hokage's order, Ibiki waved to Tsunade, Kakashi, and Sakura, leading them out of the observation room; they filed into the interrogation room.

Sasuke opened his eyes, a soft moan coming from him before raising his head and groggily realising he was no longer in his former home. He had been strung up by his wrists, shackled to chains protruding from the wall behind him. It wasn't the most discomforting position however. But the confusion of his predicament made him visibly tremble. He croaked, unable to form his question as he looked around and noticed he wasn't alone. Four people were looking down at him. The first was Ibiki Morino. He knew his face of course, and swallowed heavily, remembering his specialty was torture. The second face was the Hokage herself. Tsunade looked more detached than Ibiki; the latter seemed eager to get his "job" started.

The third face startled Sasuke; Kakashi Hatake stared down at him, his usual dispassionate expression not revealing what he was thinking. It was suddenly very unnerving. Sasuke blinked heavily, struggling against the bright light above him as he tried to spot the fourth person. She was standing a part from everyone else, not wanting to come any closer. And as black eyes met green, every other set of eyes in the room darted between them.

'_Sakura Haruno.'_

Sasuke couldn't believe it. She was alive. She was supposed to be dead, or at least in the Eternal Tsukiyomi he'd created. He called it that, with the Eternal Mangekyō as inspiration for the name, because he'd designed it to be never ending: similar name, entirely different effect. She was supposed to be screaming and clawing at waking nightmares right now. Yet, other than her obvious dislike of him and their proximity, she seemed remarkably sane. He was pissed off, but more than anything, it scared him. He looked around without tearing his eyes from the pink haired Kunoichi.

'_How did I get here?'_

He'd been fighting Itachi, and then in an instant, their eyes met a final time and everything went black. The Susanoo had to be to blame, right? The Sword of Totsuka had pierced him… wait! Sasuke shifted slightly, tearing his eyes from Sakura's and trying to see if indeed the curse mark on his neck was gone. He tried to channel his chakra, forgetting for a moment that he was still chained to this infuriating wall.

"I'd tell you to relax boy," Ibiki said happily, "but I kind of like this thrashing version of you."

Sasuke growled at him, his eyes taking in the twisted smile and eagerness to get things started. He ignored the rest of them, his eyes set on his imminent torturer.

Tsunade whispered to Ibiki, but Sakura and Kakashi heard her.

"Don't go overboard Ibiki. You know that no matter what he's become, it isn't entirely his fault."

Ibiki grumbled, earning a slight and fleeting look of confusion from Sasuke. The interrogation specialist relented.

"I'll find out what he knows… appropriately," he promised quietly, and he was left alone with the Uchiha.

Tsunade led the way out of the building for the ANBU black ops Torture and Interrogation Core silently. Once outside, Kakashi sighed deeply.

"I should tell Naruto what's happened," he said idly, not looking at the women walking next to him.

"Go," Tsunade said and the copy ninja disappeared using Shunshin.

The Hokage stopped Sakura mid step and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry Sakura."

The pinkette nodded. She still wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that Sasuke was in the leaf while Itachi was Kami knows where. She let the older woman choose when to break the hug and both of them were surprised that Sakura hadn't shed a single tear over the thoughts running through her head. She missed Itachi and wanted him back home. It was all over her face. But she knew that she would cry later, when she found him again. Tears of joy were the only ones she wanted, yet so many times lately, she found herself unable to cry any at all. Being in Itachi's presence always made her feel she could let it all go, and forget that blubbering idiot she used to be. Now she only wanted to cry in front of him.

"Come on Sakura," Tsunade said kindly. "Follow me."

She led her back to her office, grateful that the elders and Danzou Shimura were absent. Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were a thorn in her side often enough, but it was Danzou she needed to deal with now. If everything Itachi had told Sakura was true, he was about to become more annoying than those two elderly advisors put together. She sat down behind her desk wearily, and called for Shizune.

Her assistant entered quickly. "The elders are looking for you Lady Tsunade."

"Where are they?"

"Waiting for you in the council room."

"Okay," Tsunade leant forward. "Come in Shizune and close the door behind you."

The Hokage told her everything. "This is not to be repeated Shizune."

Her assistant nodded and glanced at the pinkette. Sakura rolled her eyes. She was getting sick of the looks people were giving her.

"The problem now is Danzou," Tsunade said. "Sakura, I want you to join a squad of ANBU to track down Itachi Uchiha. If he's going to come back and tell the elders what he knows, then you'll be the one to convince him. I know you couldn't before, but this is different. Shizune?"

"Yes milady?"

"Organise the ANBU squad and have them report straight here."

"Yes milady," Shizune bowed herself out of the room.

Tsunade tapped her foot impatiently as the pinkette remained silent.

"You'll need more of an escort, especially if Danzou gets wind of this before it's too late."

Sakura's eyes widened. "You don't think he'll try to stop us do you?"

"Yes, he'll want Itachi silenced. And he'll want _you_ dead as well."

Sakura swallowed heavily. "Then may I suggest the second squad that accompanies me be one with the leaf eleven."

That was not a term she used often to describe the eleven out of twelve ninja who had attended the Chunin exams together so long ago. Sasuke was not one of them anymore, not as far as she was concerned, and regardless of how much Naruto wanted him to be. There was no room for someone like him. If Sakura was indeed a target now, she wanted people she trusted backing her up. Tsunade nodded to her.

"Yes, of course."

She opened a desk drawer and scoured through the papers of which of the teams were still in the village and not on a mission. There was more than one and for a second she considered sending them all. But she didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to what they were doing. Both of the available teams had the Byakugan, which would come in handy. She bit her bottom lip, contemplating this. Shizune returned shortly afterward, with three masked ANBU. Tsunade recognised them immediately and knew they could be trusted for this. She told them only what they needed to know however and swore them to secrecy. It wasn't normally necessary, considering the nature of the ANBU, but this was different. But which team to send with them…

"Shizune," she barked at her assistant, finally deciding. "Fetch Kurenai Yuhi's squad for me, will you?"

X X X

Itachi was about to leave the clearing in which he'd lured Karin to when he felt the oncoming chakra signatures. Reason dictated that he leave before they spotted him, but something made him stay. He didn't know what it was, only that for some reason, he needed to look into the faces of Karin's team members. He had deactivated his Sharingan because it was hurting him to keep it going. They didn't approach him fearfully however, nor angrily. But the one with the white hair that Itachi remembered was called Suigetsu Hōzuki, looked annoyed. The other one… Jūgo, had orange hair, and despite his reputation, appeared quite calm.

Suigetsu lifted his lips to reveal the strange shark-like teeth, and pointed to the unconscious form of Karin.

"Did you kill her?" He asked.

"She's alive," Jūgo said, looking directly into Itachi's eyes.

This surprised the Uchiha. He blinked heavily, waiting to see what the taller man would do. Suigetsu kept his purple eyes on his sleeping team mate as Jūgo looked at Itachi uncertainly. He didn't look particularly murderous right now, so the Uchiha deduced he was debating the pros and cons of whether or not he and Suigetsu would be "allowed" to take Karin away.

Itachi relaxed his stance, still staring into Jūgo's orange eyes, and the younger man understood. He indicated to his team mate, who bent to heave Karin over his shoulder. Suigetsu was wary but grateful. His concern for the red head was surprising. He'd spent so long just looking to push her buttons, surprised at himself when the sight of her at the mercy of Itachi Uchiha annoyed him.

And as far as he was concerned, Sasuke had abandoned them. To hell with his revenge.

Suigetsu left then, glancing at Jūgo before disappearing from view. The taller man nodded to Itachi.

"Madara knows what has happened between you and Sasuke," Jūgo said evenly. "He is gathering what is left of the Akatsuki."

Surprised that the Taka member would tell him this, Itachi opened his mouth before he could stop himself. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Suigetsu and Karin don't get it," Jūgo said. "They're hung up on their original reasons for following Sasuke. She's infatuated by him, he's determined to get those swords, and I'm…"

He trailed off, wondering about that. What would he do now? Jūgo knew he would have to confine himself again, what with Sasuke gone, and he didn't trust someone like Madara not to take advantage of his Cursed Seal. Who could possibly keep his anger at bay now? He couldn't risk destroying another village with his power.

"You're taking a risk telling me this," Itachi said. "What if I killed you, or Madara? If he knows you're warning me, he won't hesitate to end your life."

Jūgo smiled, surprising the Uchiha… again.

"I am a coward in this form," he said. "At least, that's what everybody tells me. But you're loyal to Konoha. I'm not stupid. With everything that's happened since you fought Sasuke, it's obvious. Which means Madara knew too, all along, and he has to have been waiting for you to die at Sasuke's hands so he can better manipulate your brother. I'm sorry it's come to this."

He sighed. "I'm warning you because Tobi wants the jinchuriki, and I hope you can stop him from getting him."

"When will he come for him?"

Jūgo shook his head genially, speaking evenly before finally leaving to follow his companions. "He'll be coming for all three of you."

Itachi watched the man leave, uncertain as to the full meaning of Jūgo's words. All three of who? Of course, he had to mean Naruto, Sasuke, _and_ Itachi: the jinchuriki and the only other two Uchiha alive on the earth. Itachi glanced in the direction of his original destination. That could wait. Right now, Konoha had no idea an attack was coming, even though Jūgo had not said _when_ it was coming. But they were unprepared and _needed_ to know.

Making a decision, Itachi turned away from the clearing and made his way back through the forest and toward Konohagakure.

X X X

**A/N: I'm happy with how this chapter came out, even though it took awhile. Sorry for the late update anyway. ^_^  
>Hope you liked it. Please review! Love ya, ciao!<strong>


	4. Follow The Uchiha

**A/N: Check chapter 1 for the storyline differences. Another important point I forgot to point out is that this Itachi is actually stronger than the canon. **

**GAASAKU IS TRYING TO KILL MY ITASAKU MUSE! That's why I'm later in updating than I'd actually planned. I got a restraining order, so it's all good. *sighs* Anyway…  
>Thanks to <strong>gunitatsuhiko, ItaSaku-ness, Hana-Taisho, minniemousemom, Anon, Shminkanator5000, ItaSaku1, Gabby** and** Rain of the Stars **for reviewing chapter 3.  
>A special thank you to <strong>Anon**, for your kind words. I love ItaSaku, though technically speaking, it's a relatively new fascination for me, but I'm enjoying it immensely, (even though GaaSaku will always have a stronger hold on my heart). ;). Anyway, curious question: what are these ItaSaku clichés you speak of? ^_^**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 4 – Follow The Uchiha.

"_All the years that she's wasted wanting someone else, he has wasted not wanting anyone at all."_

The ANBU units heading through the forest were clearly not the usual kind. They bore no insignia on their shoulders, and they wore no apparent uniform under their standard ANBU cloaks, only personal attire; typically, this was a short, black, midriff jacket, with red straps over the shoulders. And instead of the distinctive katana strapped to the back of normal ANBU, they carried a tip-less tanto.

Itachi Uchiha had no doubt in his mind whatsoever: these ninja were from the Foundation. So Danzou was searching for him already? These elite soldiers didn't answer to the Hokage, not unless instructed to by their true master. Tsunade would not send Root members to track Itachi down, not after everything that had happened between him and Sakura. So they _had_ to be here under orders from Danzou, which meant he needed to watch his step. This forest was easy to set traps in and the Sharingan didn't see everything.

After getting no closer than a half a mile away from Konoha's entrance, Itachi had to stop and hide again. They were persistent, that was for sure. He waited in the shadow of a tree, on ground level and watched as the masked Root members flew past him, oblivious. With time to stop and think, his mind inevitably went to Sakura, then to Sasuke. At this moment, they were the two most important people in his life, a luxury he had never expected to be afforded. He had little thought as to how he would be received once he re-entered Konoha, let alone whether or not they'd believe what he had heard from Jūgo. But he needed to let them know, and was confident they would take any threat seriously, even if it came from an unreliable source.

Lady Tsunade was too smart not to be prepared.

His eyes drifted upward as another group of Root members flew over his head.

They were definitely looking for _him_. Danzou must be getting anxious, what with Sasuke now back in the village and an indistinct series of events that might lead him to believe that Sakura knew something more she wasn't telling. This made Itachi nervous himself, about what the old man might do to the pinkette, which was even more reason for him to return. It was true that she was no pushover, but up against Danzou… well, he had no intention of letting that happen. The Foundation members were going to scour this forest and not head back to Konoha without Itachi's dead body. And it was not beneath Danzou Shimura to send some assassins to find and kill Sakura as well.

But he was stuck here, in this spot until they moved onto another search grid. That could take awhile. He was stronger than Danzou was aware of, but he didn't want to get into a fight unless it was unavoidable, so decided to be patient. It was easy as he had already been patient for so long. This was just another point in time, another moment in which he needed to take stock of everything that had happened, along with everything that needed to happen.

Sure, he might've been better off heading back to Konoha when Sakura had asked him, but he needed the information on Danzou. Even if Inoichi Yamanaka probed his mind, they would still need physical proof. He had been a rogue ninja for so long, and without anything but hatred and fear in the hearts of the people he cared about, he couldn't hope that they would just forgive and forget. Maybe he was just being paranoid, maybe not. He was at least being careful.

And he really wanted to see both Sakura and Sasuke. The latter might not want to see him, if no-one has explained anything to him, but would he even listen? Itachi hadn't expected to be in this situation and so didn't know what he was going to say to his otouto. He hoped that one day Sasuke would forgive him, that he wouldn't take it out on Konoha, and hopefully, be a better man than _he_ ever was. He had spent years planning to leave the future of the Uchiha in his brother's hands, and that fact had not changed in Itachi's opinion. Sasuke was the future of the Uchiha, not Itachi.

'_Sakura.'_

He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He wanted so much from her, _for_ her. If not for these _stupid_ Root ANBU, he would have arrived at Konoha by now. Itachi had to restrain his annoyance, and looked up again, pleasantly surprised to find his field of vision clear. There were still operatives nearby, and they were guarding this area with vigour, the entrance to Konoha under constant surveillance. It only took one of them to spot him before all hell would break loose. So he made a decision. There was one other way to circumvent the watchful eyes of Danzou's hounds.

And, turning away from the Root members and the direction they were obviously heading in, Itachi made his way slightly north-east of Konoha. This direction led to a place that now only he and Sakura knew existed.

X X X

"What are we even doing here?"

Hinata Hyuuga made a soft sound that was half way between a strangled cry and nervous sigh. "Shh! Don't say things like that Kiba!"

"He raises a valid point Hinata," Shino Aburame said patiently. "We're supposed to be off missions for the next few days."

"When your Hokage calls you in," Kurenai Yuhi said simply, "you come in, regardless."

Tsunade watched the scene unfold with amusement. While Naruto Uzumaki's antics were cringe worthy, she found the banter between the members of Team Eight almost comical. They were getting funnier and funnier every time she saw them, be it in her office or the mission room. Currently, Shizune, three ANBU, and Sakura Haruno also stood in Tsunade's office, watching mirthlessly as the team discussed their call here amongst themselves. But there was still a problem; their leader wasn't supposed to be here.

"I'm sorry Kurenai," Tsunade said, breaking up the impending argument as Shino changed his mind and aggravated Kiba. "I wasn't expecting you to be here. You should be with your daughter."

Kurenai had given birth recently, about a month and a half ago. Sakura hadn't been here, wanting to be one of those who were in the operating theatre at the time. Sasuke had put a stop to that, by kidnapping her. She would always hold it against him: that was an important moment he'd made her miss. The pinkette wasn't as close to Kurenai as she was with Kakashi, for example, but had promised to take care of her during the birth. She was Konoha's finest medic after all.

Still, she agreed with Tsunade: these were important months for the mother and daughter, the whole bonding thing. It was expected.

"It's okay Hokage-sama," Kurenai said. "I was looking to get out of the house for awhile and Shikamaru is looking in on Suhina right now."

"Shikamaru?" Shizune asked, confused. "Why Shikamaru?"

Sakura giggled. "He certainly has the patience."

Kurenai smiled at her. "When he's not working, he comes around. He loves her a bit _too_ much I think."

"He should start on his own family now," the pinkette said, thinking about Temari Sabaku.

No-one in the room missed the underlying meaning behind her words.

Kiba cleared his throat. "So, are we doing this or what?"

"Just to be clear," Shino said, in that drab voice of his. "What is this, exactly?"

"Your orders are to track down Itachi Uchiha," Tsunade said, ignoring the strange looks she was now getting. "And you will do so as inconspicuously as possible."

She glanced at the ANBU standing patiently a few feet away, and then addressed the room at large.

"The ANBU Foundation is under the orders of Danzou Shimura, and it is my belief they may attempt to interfere with _my_ orders. You will _not_ allow the fact that they are also from Konoha to interfere with what you need to do to complete this mission. Itachi Uchiha is to be returned to the leaf _alive_. Do I make myself clear?"

Everyone nodded.

"May I ask," Kurenai asked tentatively, "why so few are heading out to capture him? He's a notorious S-rank criminal and no matter how powerful, eight ninja won't be enough to bring him in at all, let alone alive."

"You don't have to worry about him killing any of you Kurenai," Tsunade said to her (mostly) stunned audience. "Your main problem will be avoiding or dispensing with any Root members you encounter. Any more questions?"

"Yeah, I got one," Kiba said, and Sakura sighed loudly. "How are we supposed to track him? Neither Akamaru nor I know his scent."

"He's in the area," Tsunade said. "There is a place in the Konoha woods you can use as you starting point to track. Sakura knows where it is. Anything else?"

They fell silent.

"Then head out now."

Without hesitation, the three ANBU left, and Kurenai's team followed. Sakura glanced once more at her shishou before joining them on the rooftops. She just hoped this search proved fruitful.

They didn't need to collect anything more for this, so the eight ninja moved as a group, the ANBU surprisingly letting Sakura take the lead. Team Eight didn't know any of the details of this mission (though Hinata had figured it out), and Sakura worried about not at least telling the special Jounin _something_. She had fought Itachi once before. Sakura knew this already, but her first thought went to the memories Itachi had shown her. The genjutsu specialist was amazing, her techniques flawless, but she couldn't hold a candle to the Uchiha prodigy. How obvious it was now, looking back at those memories and knowing Itachi had meant her no harm.

She deserved to know.

Sakura slowed down so that Kurenai could catch up with her, as they passed the check-in-station and entered the forest surrounding Konoha.

"Kurenai Sensei," she said slowly. "How much do you know about Itachi Uchiha?"

Kurenai glanced at her. "As a Shinobi?"

"At all."

She thought about that, her eyes taking in the greenery around them; she didn't need to tell Kiba and Akamaru to keep their senses heightened anymore than she needed to make sure Hinata made full use of her Byakugan. None of them needed instruction. Occasionally she considered taking more time off and perhaps letting the rest of Team Eight take on the mantle without her. Suhina wasn't a handful, inheriting her father's natural tendency for more quiet mischief.

Kurenai thought about Sakura's question. She knew that Itachi was an S-rank criminal, a prodigy, and probably capable of wiping out much of Konoha before being taken down. But beyond what was in the bingo book.

"Only what everyone else knows," she said.

"Would it surprise you then, to learn that Danzou ordered him to kill his clan?"

Kurenai whipped her head around and stared at Sakura as Kiba let out an audible gasp. The pinkette had their full attention.

"Why would he do that?"

Sakura screwed up her nose. "Many reasons, not the least of which was the fact that the Uchiha were planning a coup de tat. They intended to kill the third and take over, with Fugaku as the next Hokage. Relations between the Uchiha and the Senju had broken down and Fugaku had no respect for a Sarutobi who supported the policies of his Senju predecessors. Danzou told Itachi that the Uchiha wouldn't relent to the peace talks, so he used Itachi to take them out."

Kurenai kept her eyes on the pinkette, unable to turn away. "A thirteen year old wiping out his entire clan except for his little brother, I can only imagine what was going through his head."

"How do you know all of this, Sakura?" Shino asked.

"I spent two and a half months with the man," she said, feeling a little mischievous as she watched the way they were reacting.

Hinata of course, was listening intently, but had heard all of this before. She wasn't surprised that Sakura was telling her team mates this, but glanced warily at the ANBU, who had given no indication that they were surprised by these revelations. But their kind were always silent and non responsive.

Inner Sakura collapsed into laughing hysterics as Kiba screwed up his face and tried to hide the enormity of his shock. He really was _very_ easy to read. When Lady Tsunade had relayed everything to Shizune, Sakura was as usual, annoyed with the looks the brunette gave her after that, not that it was her fault. She was tired of these conversations. But somehow, Team Eight was making her feel better. Their reactions were almost comical. Even Shino had looked surprised (as much as he could with most of his face hidden). So Sakura indulged them, telling them about Sasuke and the strange Tsukuyomi. She didn't go into detail, just telling them she'd learnt the truth from Itachi as he'd nursed her back to health. They soaked it up nicely.

"So that's why the Hokage sent you on this mission with us," Kiba said. "What I mean is why you're here. We're accompanying you, not the other way around. You know where we need to start our search, but you also know what's happened, right?"

Sakura nodded her head, surprised as she was very rarely, that Kiba had thought this one through. Sure, he was no knucklehead like Naruto, but he had his slow moments. It was difficult to know, other than aggressive overreacting, how he was going to react to something. At least, in Sakura's opinion.

They travelled quietly now, with Sakura leading them to a spot in the woods where she knew they could pick up Itachi's trail. She had no intention of showing the entrance to the Uchiha estate unless she needed to, and was grateful for small favours when they found the slight signs that only the Byakugan or the Kikaichū of the Aburame clan had a hope of detecting. Sakura stopped, the ANBU and Team Eight following her example. She looked around at the latter group.

"Any ideas?"

"I can see the path indistinctly," Hinata said, her kekkei genkai active. "He's very good at covering his tracks."

Sakura forced herself not to smile with pride at that. She turned her head away to hide the evidence and told her stomach to stop doing back flips.

'_Get a grip on yourself.'_

Perhaps it was the prospect of seeing him again that was making her a bundle of nerves. Truly, she had never felt this strongly for anyone, _ever_. But she needed to remain impassive here; it wasn't like she was going to be able to hide her involvement with Itachi forever, she just needed to focus. She turned back to note that Shino was looking north of their position.

"My bugs have picked up the same trail," he said drearily, "and they can see the remnants of chakra usage. Wait…"

He trailed off and indicated to Hinata. "Look west from here."

"West?"

He nodded. "There's something there, I just need you to confirm it."

Hinata nodded and used her Byakugan as instructed. She let out a soft gasp a moment later. "Ninja."

"The Foundation most likely," Kurenai said. "So they're out here already."

Hinata turned her head slightly. "They're everywhere: north, east, south, and west."

"They know he's nearby," Sakura deduced, "but not where."

"So what do we do? Do we continue on this path?"

"Of course," Kurenai said. "Our mission is to bring Itachi back, we'll just deal with any Root members we find."

"I love how you say that," Kiba said sarcastically. "Like it's the easiest thing ever. These are ANBU, and they're not going to not kill us if we get in their way. I heard about them from Naruto; he said that Sai guy is one."

"We should split up," Sakura said suddenly, keeping her eyes averted from Kurenai and her team.

"What?" Kiba asked, stunned, and Akamaru echoed this. "Why?"

The pinkette sighed. "The Root members are looking for Itachi, correct?"

He nodded.

"If this is so, why are they scouring the forest unless they think he's nearby?"

Kiba thought about this, his team mates watching him with amusement. "I get your point, but we already deduced he's nearby. But that doesn't explain why–"

"We won't be able to follow this trail and not run into the Foundation, that's why."

"What are you suggesting?" Kurenai asked curiously.

"That if we split up, one group can deal with the Root members while another continues to search for Itachi. This should make it easier don't you think?"

Hinata smiled at her, knowing what Sakura _really_ wanted to do. "You mean he's hiding from them, and if they're suddenly distracted he might come out of hiding, right?"

Sakura nodded at her, grateful. The Hyuuga knew she wanted to find Itachi herself, that the chances of keeping him out of trouble were higher if he saw her first. It felt good to be with someone on this search who knew the truth about them. Sakura hadn't told the others of her feelings after all. Having Hinata here made Sakura feel protected somehow, like no matter what, the Hyuuga was in her corner. She understood: if it was Naruto out here, being tracked by Danzou's personal assassins, Sakura would help Hinata find him, she'd do anything to bring him back to Konoha safely. There was no need to _ask_ for her help, she was giving it freely.

"Sounds reasonable," Shino said dryly.

He eyed them from behind his glasses. Their body language indicated that the two friends were heading down a train of thought separate from what they were saying. Kiba was the only one not wondering what Hinata and Sakura knew that the rest of them didn't. Even Akamaru looked more concerned than him. Sakura bit her bottom lip.

"I'm going alone," she said.

The complaints started straight away.

"That's not going to happen," Kurenai said. "What if you run into any of those Root members? Why would you want to go alone?"

"You won't be able to follow his trail on your own," Shino reminded her.

Sakura looked up and stared into the questioning red eyes of Kurenai. Itachi would be no safer whether she went alone or not, but she _wanted_ to be alone when she found him. She realised this was reckless, that every instinct in Kurenai was screaming at her to not let it happen, but the pinkette didn't want to try to sneak away from the team, she wanted them to know what was going on. They had stopped in the shade of a tree, and Hinata's Byakugan confirmed that the Root members were a good distance away, but it wasn't safe to linger for long. And then there was Danzou. He clearly sent his personal assassins into the forest to look for Itachi, but if they found her, they wouldn't hesitate to kill her. She didn't want to be alone for that but… she couldn't help her _need_ to be alone with Itachi.

It was an aching need that was fighting her Kunoichi training. She needed to decide right now, which was more important.

Sakura sighed. "I know this doesn't make any sense, but you know I spent time with Itachi, you know I knew of his situation regarding Danzou. But what you don't know is _why_. I can't explain this all now, time is of the essence–"

"What Sakura's trying to say," Hinata interrupted as Sakura squirmed, "is that she knows where Itachi might go, and he's more likely to respond favourably to her if she's alone. Right Sakura?"

Grateful, the pinkette smiled at her and nodded her head.

"Hinata?" Kurenai said softly, but the Hyuuga didn't look at her.

She wouldn't say anymore without Sakura's consent. "You should go," she said stubbornly.

Sakura nodded again.

"Okay," Kiba said, "you're crazy. But if you think you'll be fine, then go. We can find you quickly enough and will follow you in about fifteen minutes, okay?"

Sakura nodded… yet again. It was all she seemed capable of doing.

"Unless we run into the enemy first," Shino reminded them, and gave the pinkette a weird look before she took off, alone.

X X X

The forest was great cover, and Sakura knew how to hide. She was good at genjutsu, not as spectacular as Kurenai, but definitely up there. She mostly knew concealment and revealing forms, nothing she could attack anyone with. But it was enough to hide her presence as she waited for a small group of Root members to pass her by before continuing on her way. If Itachi was in the area (she _felt_ like he was), then he was having the same problems with the patrolling dark ANBU. There was one place she knew that he would go to, at least for a moment of repose.

So that was how Sakura found herself leaning against the tree, her back facing a concealment genjutsu; she knew it was there, remembering the spot Itachi had led her to, but unable to _see_ it without his help. She appreciated both Shino and Hinata's tracking abilities, but tracking Itachi was futile; as an ex-ANBU, he knew all the tricks of the trade. Still, she had no idea _how_, but somehow, she knew he would come here. The Root members Shino and Hinata had both noticed in the forest weren't there for _her_. Yes, Danzou would definitely want her dead, but he didn't need to send his servants to scour the forest floor for her. He knew where she lived. Sakura shivered at that.

Her eyes drifted upward, searching for the warm comfort of the secret passage. The entrance to the Uchiha estate was around here, and she had even entered through the genjutsu blocking the way. As far as she knew, she was the only person Itachi had shown this to. He had promised they would see each other again, so she was going to wait in this spot until that happened.

Sakura realised she was sounding like some love sick puppy, but this wasn't her being a fan girl to Itachi, or a clingy, one time screw. She just _knew_ that this was the only place he would come to, short of scouring all of Konoha for her.

'_Please come back Itachi.'_

She screwed up her nose, clamping her eyes shut as her thoughts dwelled on the time she'd spent in that hut with Itachi. Unlike the secret entrance to the Uchiha estate grounds, she did not believe she could find that shack again. It was in the middle of nowhere as far as she was concerned, and the only distinguishing landmark she could remember was that it was in the middle of a raised clearing. She didn't even know if it was closer to Konoha than to say, the land of hot water. It didn't matter.

A rustle nearby reminded her she hadn't put up another genjutsu.

'_Stupid,' _she thought, listening intently and staring out into the woods.

There were several chakra signatures surrounding her, none of which she recognised. They _had_ to be Root ANBU.

Sakura clenched her fists, and then moved her right hand slowly to pull free her kodachi from the scabbard on her back. This sword was a recent acquisition for her and she'd grown quite fond of it. When Sasuke Uchiha had kidnapped her, he'd left it on the ground and an ANBU pursuit squad had retrieved it. She was glad the younger Uchiha had not broken it, probably not bothering to care about it. She didn't need it, but for some reason, while perusing the weapons shop during a visit to Kirigakure not six months ago, she had somehow been drawn to it.

Snapping out of her reverie, Sakura positioned her body into a defensive stance.

"Come out!" She called. "Identify yourselves."

A moment later, her theory was proven correct: three ANBU level leaf ninja, bearing no insignia nor uniform, burst forth from the underbrush of the surrounding greenery and attacked her.

X X X

**A/N: This chapter was a bit slow to my eyes, but I wanted to end it on this note. Next chapter will start to heat things up, promise. It's when Itachi returns to the leaf and well, you get the idea. ;)  
>For anyone who normally reads my other ItaSaku multichapter: my focus on my GaaSaku fics is the reason for its delay. But I'll be getting back to The Promise eventually, probably after I've finished with this fic, and for now, Torn In Two is the ItaSaku I'll be focusing on... unless I'm suddenly inspired and whatnot. :) <strong>

**Anyway, hope you liked it. Please review! Love ya, ciao!**


	5. Questions With No Answers

**A/N: Sorry for the late update… again. I haven't abandoned this fic, but there were a few plot issues I've since decided to rectify. That and my muse hates me. :) There's more story progression from now on, so if this chapter feels rushed, I apologise. Please bear with me. It's a necessary evil. ;)  
>Thanks to<strong> ItaSaku-ness, Hana-Taisho, ItaSaku1, Anon, Toyroys, **and** Rain of the Stars **for reviewing chapter 4.**

**Enjoy! ^_^**

Chapter 5 – Questions With No Answers.

"_If enemies hide in shadow, their eyes watching and waiting, then why do friends do the same?"_

It all happened so quickly. One moment she was ready to defend herself, and the next, Sakura Haruno was outnumbered. But she wasn't some push over; she had her chakra fist, the ability to cut tendons without breaking skin and monster strength. She'd also gotten faster over the years, and could probably try out for ANBU, if she wanted to.

'_Which I don't.'_

With the kodachi in her hand, she gripped the long handle of her favourite weapon fiercely, her eyes on her attackers. There were three of them, and they came at her on three fronts: left, right and head on. She took a step backward to brace herself and spun around, brandishing the sword and trying to hit non-vital areas on their bodies to bring them down. Not only were they still leaf ninja, but seeing them like this made her think of Sai. If it hadn't been him, it would have been someone else Danzou sent to spy on them. But Sai made her second guess what she would be willing to do to these dark ANBU. He was human, so they had to be too.

She found their attacks easy enough to dodge, but after they fell she heard and sensed more, moments before they entered the clearing. Sakura could feel herself being surrounded, the ones still hidden by brush moving around to better cut off any escape as she took down their comrades.

'_Comrades...'_

She may not be willing to kill them, but she knew they were not like her. They'd been conditioned to block out emotion, to not care about anything but their mission. So they couldn't see each other as comrades, surely.

Sakura gasped, her thoughts distracting her long enough for an ANBU to get a hit in; the tip-less tanto this version of the elite ANBU carried instead of the distinctive katana grazing her side. It _felt_ like a graze, until the gathering warmth along her now exposed skin alerted her to the reality of the deep gash.

They just kept coming and she couldn't fend them off and heal herself at the same time. If she could only hold them off until her team turned up… but one person could not face this many opponents intent on killing her for fifteen minutes and hope to survive.

And then suddenly she _felt_ him.

The indescribable warmth now flooding through her body was one of recognition and she let her body crumple to the ground as Itachi Uchiha seemed to simply glide into the clearing, his Sharingan blazing. His aura was terrifying, his entire body seeming to glow with a tint of darkness. It had to be some strange Sharingan related jutsu. Sakura struggled to watch him fight as she held a healing hand to her side. He was amazing. When not holding back, he moved so quickly, so elegantly that she almost mistook him for an angel.

She laughed inwardly at herself. Sakura already viewed him as her dark angel, since this was not the first time he'd saved her life. But now he looked the part more, the intensity of his very being matched by the way he moved, relentlessly taking out every ANBU in unmatched fury. She couldn't tell if he'd killed any of them, but doubted they were dead. He was her angel after all.

"Sakura…"

She realised her gaze had inadvertently dropped from his form and her head shot up as the healing chakra running through her wound had completed its job. He helped her up and Sakura threw her arms around the waist of the taller ninja. She cried softly, not surprised this had been her first instinct. It seemed she would forever be damned to being a sobbing idiot when it came to a man she loved. She held tighter to him, her eyes closed as he stroked her back in a calming motion.

Itachi was fighting fatigue via chakra depletion. He had been overdoing it as of late, and this was the final straw. But he would not let himself collapse and worry Sakura. She was holding so tightly to him, afraid he would burst into crows again and disappear. It was sometime before she began to loosen her hold and they realised they were no longer alone. Sakura's team had finally caught up.

Kurenai Yuhi, Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Akamaru, Shino Aburame and the three ANBU who had accompanied them burst into the clearing quite suddenly.

"S-sorry," Hinata stammered, limping slightly but not painfully. "We were ambushed too."

"It's alright Hinata," Sakura said.

"The Root members did a good job of putting up a smokescreen genjutsu to fool us into thinking you were somewhere else," Kiba said. "It even fooled Akamaru and me, and Hinata's Byakugan."

"Then how–"

"I planted a beetle on you before you left," Shino said matter-of-factly.

Really, Sakura was _not_ surprised. He seemed to do that a lot. She remembered suddenly, the strange look he'd given her before they'd split. Typical: his bugs weren't fooled by genjutsu so easily... perhaps not at all.

She looked over their wounds, only to widen her eyes at the sight of the ANBU Akamaru was carrying on his back. She let go of Itachi gently and moved to heal the ANBU member. The man was in bad shape. Some Root member had gotten a lucky hit in. He grunted softly, which she interpreted as a sort of "thanks" and the pinkette focused on healing him.

Itachi watched her silently, his Sharingan still active. He ignored the looks Kurenai Yuhi and her squad were giving him. They were wary of course, but didn't say anything. It made him wonder how much they knew. Kurenai kept her red eyes on him, and as the only other leaf ninja in the vicinity he had ever attacked, in any shape or form, she was the most distrustful of him. Although the feral looking boy showed it the most (he looked like an Inuzuka, so Itachi guessed this was Kiba).

Without meaning to, Itachi deactivated his Sharingan. The light died in his eyes and he groaned, stumbling forward. Sakura turned her head toward him, concerned, but it was Hinata who stepped forward and caught him before he could hit the ground. Trusting that her friend was helping him, Sakura turned away from them as she continued healing the ANBU operative.

"Are you okay?" She asked, keeping her voice steady. She would not get emotional in front of the others.

He nodded. "I am well enough."

He didn't _feel_ well, but it would not do to worry her over something she could not do anything about. Itachi leant heavily on Hinata for a moment before assuring her he was capable of standing on his own again. But the Hyuuga looked up into his eyes, the concern on her face obvious. He could see she was figuring out that he had just lied. The realisation made her eyes widen and she glanced at Sakura, more concern marring her otherwise contemplative expression.

Itachi ignored this however, his gaze drifting to the pinkette momentarily before settling on red eyes. Kurenai Yuhi had not married Asuma Sarutobi before he died but the birth of a new child with Sarutobi blood had not gone unnoticed in the ninja world, even amongst rogue Shinobi. She didn't look like she'd ever given birth before, her figure as immaculate as it had been the day Itachi had attacked her. He remembered it well, and a strong surge of guilt overcame him.

None of this registered on his face however, as he addressed her.

"Kurenai-san?"

She nodded to him stiffly.

"How many Foundation members do you believe are still in the area?" He could check it out for himself, but was wary of forcing more chakra to his eyes. It would only give away his weakened condition even further and he didn't want to dwell on the pain now coursing through him.

"No more than a handful," she said evenly. "Hinata?"

Hinata nodded and used her Byakugan to double check. "You are correct Kurenai Sensei."

"Then we should leave," Itachi said, as Sakura stood, having finished helping the ANBU. "Before we are found loitering here."

"You're coming back?" Sakura asked, wanting to clarify this. "And with no excuses this time?"

He nodded, smiling slightly. "I believe a trip to the Hokage's office is in order."

She walked over to him as he swayed slightly and he leant on her for support. She wasn't stupid, he knew. She knew he was more hurt than he let on. But this wasn't the place for a full examination, so it would have to wait until they were in Konoha. And by Kami she was going to make him sit down, shut up and let her heal him, Uchiha pride be _damned_.

X X X

He wasn't going to tire of "interrogating" the Uchiha. Nope… never. Ibiki Morino loved his job. Perhaps a little too much, but he would never admit it out loud and in the company of others. That would only ruin his fun. He'd gotten into this division back before Orochimaru had been first named a missing-nin, and it was the highlight of his job, torturing criminals for information. Sasuke Uchiha was however, despite Ibiki's contempt for the young man, not a normal criminal.

He was a powerful Shinobi, and clearly one who'd been through the ringer. His torso bore battle scars and he had yet to scream under the steel of his interrogator. He was a tough one for sure. But Ibiki wasn't one to be so easily dissuaded. Everyone had a breaking point, and this little rat's stay in this dank prison wasn't going to be a waste of time.

Sasuke may not have screamed under the pain, but he had uttered a few questions of his own, his arrogance in this situation pushing more fury into Ibiki's techniques than required. He wanted to know how Sakura had escaped his Tsukiyomi. He _needed_ to understand how she could have stood in front of him, seemingly clear of mind and unperturbed by the dark visions his Eternal Tsukiyomi caused. It was more frustrating than the incisor-like pain wracking his body every time he didn't answer Ibiki's questions.

He should've been thinking about Team Taka as well, probably, but he didn't care, not really. It wasn't like he was their nurse maid. They didn't need him there to function as human beings. He was more concerned about his own predicament, and _his_ torment. His revenge had gone wrong, he was in the hands of a Konoha interrogation specialist, and had _no_ idea what the fuck was going on. He mulled on this – it was helping in keeping him silent. He'd never been tortured like this before, but knew he could bear it. They needed him alive. He knew about the Akatsuki, and what Madara was up to.

He just needed to hold out long enough to get some sort of offer in return once the "civilised" version of Ibiki took over.

And on that note, Ibiki was just putting the finishing touches on a new technique he'd been dying to try out or falling back on old habits with a summons, like the Iron Maiden, when he felt the familiar chakra of Inoichi Yamanaka approaching the door to the observation room. He growled as the chakra fluctuated slightly, spiking the next second, indicating his old friend/colleague/immediate superior was in a hurry and he'd best give him his full attention.

"I'll be back soon to pick at you," he promised the grunting Uchiha and waltzed into the observation room.

Despite his annoyance, he showed the Captain of the Intelligence Division of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force the appropriate respect and kept the maniacal frustration off of his face.

"Ibiki," Inoichi responded to the man's greeting.

Inoichi was an impressive man, and well received by anyone who met him. He had recently learnt of the Uchiha's return and received a summons from the Hokage while on his way to see Ibiki. The summons wasn't urgent, so he stopped by to see the head of the Torture and Interrogation Core first. It was business that brought him here, so he felt no concern over delaying his arrival in the Hokage Tower. Okay… so it was a little of curiosity as well.

His eyes drifted to the young man he remembered his daughter always gushing about over family dinner time back in her academy days. When Sasuke Uchiha had gone rogue, Ino had stopped talking about him, just getting a strange far away and sullen look every time his name was mentioned. Eventually, she ignored his name altogether. Inoichi was grateful – no daughter of his was going to pine after a traitor.

She deserved better.

"Any progress?" He asked.

"Nope. He's a quiet one this one."

"I'm not surprised." Inoichi sighed. "Well, the Hokage has summoned me, so I suppose I shouldn't distract you any longer."

"About the Uchiha?" Ibiki asked, thinking about the summons.

"Perhaps."

They both swivelled on the spot as the door opened and the male members of the former Team Seven entered the observation room.

"I want to see him," Naruto Uzumaki said, clenching his fists.

Ibiki motioned to the one-way glass. "Look all you want."

"We can't go in there?" Kakashi asked, surprised but… realising he shouldn't be. Last time he'd been able to enter because of Tsunade, but there was probably some unspoken rule in the interrogation core about visiting rights.

He couldn't help but chuckle inwardly at that.

Naruto pressed up against the glass, suddenly terrified, his eyes raking over his former best friend's injuries. "What did you do to him?"

"Naruto," Kakashi warned him.

"It's called aggressive interrogation," Ibiki said.

"I wanna go in there," the jinchuriki said, his voice oddly calm.

"Sorry," Ibiki said. "Lady Tsunade's orders are that no-one enter that room but myself or the Hokage herself until Itachi Uchiha is found and brought back."

"Itachi?" Kakashi asked, not bothering to hide his surprise.

But really, what did he expect would happen? Ever since Sakura told him what had happened, he should've seen _this_ coming. He was returning to the leaf, and the copy ninja wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"That's it!" Naruto snarled, ignoring the mention of the older Uchiha's name. "I'm going to give that old bat a piece of my mind!"

"Good luck," Ibiki said happily and turned away from them as Naruto hesitated, staring at Sasuke again.

The copy ninja was in a bit of a daze.

'_Itachi…'_

It seemed so surreal.

The last time he'd seen him had been on the way to rescue the fifth Kazekage, and again, just like the time before, Kakashi and Itachi both had kept any and all talk on the matter at hand. Anyone watching would never have guessed they had once known each other. No-one would have questioned any past affiliations.

But even to this day, Kakashi missed his friend, even though the hate had boiled for so long. He had mixed feelings about the man. It wasn't like when he'd lost Obito and Rin. They _had_ been his fault. So he felt vindicated in his hatred for Itachi...

But now that he knew the truth? He honestly had no idea how this was going to go. He didn't know what to say to him, to his former ANBU captain. A part of him hoped it was just a hoax, and that the man wasn't a victim of Danzou Shimura, and that everything was going to go back to normal.

'_Stupid.'_

Kakashi sighed, grabbing Naruto roughly as he looked ready to break down the one-way glass and then following unhappily as the idiot decided he wanted to tear the Hokage asunder after all. Inoichi walked behind them, his destination seemingly the same. The knucklehead was the only of them that wasn't worried about what was going to happen when they entered the Hokage's mansion.

X X X

Team Eight probably should've just left when they had the chance. Upon arrival in Konoha, Itachi stiffened slightly, but with Sakura's arm around him at least, nobody came running up to them to attack him or anything. They were getting an awful lot of stares and Kurenai kept glancing at her team, wondering if she shouldn't just tell them they didn't need to go all the way to the Hokage's office. In fact, _she_ didn't need to either.

But for some reason she wanted to. So she suggested they take the rooftop route and once they'd left the peering, curious eyes of their fellow villagers behind, the window entrance was an option she _didn't_ need to suggest. They silently agreed it was the best course of action and Sakura was reminded how she'd chosen this entrance when she'd brought Sasuke back. It was funny how similar and yet different the retrieval of both brothers had been. She supported Itachi's weight a little more aggressively, worried about him, but kept her concerns to herself. She would bring up her worries when no-one else was around.

And just the thought of being alone with Itachi for the first time since those two months together was enough to bring a warm blush to her face. She wanted to be alone with him again. She wanted to have him all to herself, the rest of the world and his criminal status be damned.

As it turned out, just like last time, Tsunade was the only one in her office. But this time she wasn't asleep. She sensed their arrival and stood the moment she realised their mission had been a success.

"Well well, Itachi Uchiha," she said evenly. "It's been a long time. I remember a certain clan heir who used to visit the third Hokage during his lunches to get away from his overbearing father. Now look at you."

There was no cynicism in her voice as she truly found the difference between this Itachi and the one she'd caught sneaking into the third's office the first time he'd left his father behind an interesting one. She had known even then that Fugaku wasn't the nicest father. He put undue pressure on Itachi, and she'd heard rumours from a few acquaintances in the Uchiha clan that the man was temperamental. The visits to the third had stopped after Sasuke had been born, and Tsunade often found herself worrying over both of them, not that she could ask about it.

Tsunade shook the thoughts out of her head and smiled at Itachi who managed a similar greeting in return to appease her. She could tell he was hurt and glanced at Sakura, who was biting her bottom lip as she studied him.

"Kurenai," the Hokage said. "Report."

The leader of Team Eight gave a verbal report on how they'd split up to try to draw the Foundation away so that Sakura could find Itachi and the ambushes that followed. She fell silent once she was done, but before Tsunade could respond, her door was opened with a sharp snap. Thankfully, the hinges kept a hold of the wood and didn't break.

"I see you've taken it upon yourself to retrieve the Uchiha," Danzou Shimura said sourly, shadowed by two Root members. "I'm sure the elders and council will be anxious to hear your excuse for this particular blunder."

"The blunder was yours Shimura," Tsunade said scathingly. "Sending Root members out into the forest to hunt and kill him and anyone else they encountered. Kurenai Yuhi has just given her report that her team was accosted by _your_ ANBU. We'll see who needs to explain themselves."

"They were interfering in a routine training regime involving the Foundation," Danzou said back calmly. "ANBU have seniority over _lesser_ squads and it's their own fault they got themselves hurt getting in the way. And now that that's sorted out, you will hand over jurisdiction of the incarceration and execution of Itachi Uchiha and keep out of this."

"How dare you!" Tsunade bellowed, and everyone else in the room bar Danzou and his operatives visibly shuddered (okay, not Itachi either…). "For one thing, Kurenai's team was out there under _my_ orders, and unless you've been named the new Hokage and I just haven't received the paperwork on my own firing, _my_ orders supersede yours, Shimura, which gives their presence _superiority_ if such a rule were ever to exist! And as for Itachi Uchiha, he is not your concern, unless you're admitting to ordering him to wipe out his clan eight years ago! And another thing!" She took a deep breath before diving back in. "It has already been stated we need information on the Akatsuki so executing someone who has potentially valuable information on them is both premature and reckless. Only if you don't care about the safety of this village would you suggest this!"

Danzou scoffed. "You have already won the dispute over whether or not to keep Sasuke Uchiha alive. We don't need them both, so your argument for _this_ one is a moot point. He should be executed as soon as possible, and without–"

"The Akatsuki are coming," Itachi said, interrupting Danzou, but looking at the Hokage as though the old man hadn't been talking at all.

She whipped her head around to stare incredulously. "When?"

"I don't know. But Madara is intent on coming here, looking for what he thinks is his to claim."

He didn't bother mentioning specifics, having only said this to help the Hokage with her argument, since everyone else in the room seemed to have lost their ability to say or do anything other than stand there and stare.

"Preposterous," Danzou snorted. "He would be even less successful than Pein because he isn't nearly as powerful. We are stronger than we've been in a long time. He cannot possibly think he would win."

The two Root ANBU flanking him shifted slightly.

"Enough of this," he said. "S-rank criminals should be killed on sight."

That was cue to the Root ANBU and they darted forward, toward the Uchiha. The sudden movement was to their advantage as no-one responded at first. But it was too late, and Itachi was standing straight, but did nothing to defend himself, realising suddenly that he didn't have the strength anymore. Just one, well placed hit would do it, and they knew it. He was weakened from fighting their comrades in the forest and from the excessive chakra drain.

Sakura, being the closest to Itachi, was pushed out of the way by the closest Root member, but she responded quickly, grabbing the man's wrist and pulling him along with her while her chakra fist swung out and slammed into the shoulder of the other ANBU, effectively bringing this attack to a screeching halt. She flung the unhurt Root member out the window as his companion lost consciousness.

"Asshole," Sakura snapped, spitting on Danzou, ignorant of the gleam in his eye as he pulled on the bandages wrapping his arms. She didn't know, nor care what they were for and growled at him.

"You'll regret that little Kunoichi," he snarled, flinging out his arm.

Something (she didn't know _what_ it was, but it felt like chakra) hit her square across the face. It was just a slap compared to her chakra fists, so all she did was stumble slightly, a stinging sensation drawing her attention to a shallow gash on the side of her face.

"Shimura!" Tsunade yelled. "Do _not_ attack my–"

The mini-explosion that interrupted Tsunade's tirade took everyone by surprise and Danzou was thrown sideways and against the wall. An angry Shinobi had busted down the door, his entrance surprisingly going unnoticed until he attacked the old rival of the third Hokage.

Kakashi's Sharingan was blaring and Tsunade realised the copy ninja had thrown a wave of chakra at the old man – more powerful than that pitiful version Danzou had just used on Sakura. She was impressed. But right now, he looked anything but like the highly skilled and detached Shinobi she knew. He was all but trembling with newly found fury. This was a rare sight, and she was as grateful for his interruption as she was worried over what she was seeing.

Danzou had attacked his former student. Kakashi had not felt this angry for years. He ignored the shocked expressions on the faces of the people in the room as Naruto stormed in after him, having missed what had happened, but stopped suddenly, seeing his Sensei riled up. It was scary. Inoichi came in after him, hesitating just past the threshold.

"Kakashi," Tsunade said softly, not knowing how to continue.

Naruto was confused. He saw that Danzou was on the floor, against the wall, and that Kakashi was furious.

"Granny!" He screamed, deciding to ignore the weird version of Kakashi.

The copy ninja seemed to calm down as Naruto got more riled up, yelling at Tsunade for ordering Ibiki not to let anyone in to see Sasuke. Kakashi looked around: he was used to Naruto's tirades, as was anyone who knew him, so it wasn't the high pitched voice that rang through the room that was bothering him now. It was Itachi Uchiha. The missing-nin he hadn't seen for years, not since the day of the massacre. He had to force himself not to vocalise his annoyance at Itachi's presence, settling instead for glaring at his ex-ANBU rival and former friend.

He was still feeling particularly heated, and didn't bother to hide behind the calm mask he normally wore.

The silence of the rest of the room seemed to dawn on Naruto and he stopped shouting immediately, when Sakura said his name softly. He glanced around, his face shifting as he went from angry to outright confused. Then he turned and stared straight into the dark eyes of Itachi Uchiha. The older of the two turned his head away immediately, ignoring everyone except for Sakura, his arm around her waist and holding her close, even though his body was screaming at him to faint or at least sit down before he fell down. He had noticed the copy ninja, but kept his eyes averted. He didn't want to face him right now, knowing the older man was staring daggers at him. He also didn't want to see the blue eyes of the young man who had been hunted by the Akatsuki and even encountered _him_ on more than one occasion. He just wanted to finish telling Tsunade what he needed to say and take Sakura with him, out the window and somewhere _warm_, where he could sleep and shower.

The room was deadly quiet until Tsunade cleared her throat and addressed Inoichi, who had so far remained quiet (along with the members of Team Eight). "Take Danzou Shimura to one of your interrogation rooms and keep him unconscious until such time that he's to be questioned on the order to wipe out the Uchiha clan, as well as the attack on multiple leaf ninja over the course of the last few hours. Dismissed."

"Yes of course, Lady Hokage," Inoichi bowed respectfully, realising _this_ was the reasoning behind his summons, and not either of the Uchiha brothers. He glanced at Itachi before grabbing Danzou and using Shunshin to leave. He just hoped Tsunade didn't bear the brunt of this with the elderly advisors, though he knew she would.

"Everyone except for Sakura and Itachi, get _out_ of my office!" Tsunade snarled.

They were gone an instant later; Naruto's voice broke the quiet of the group by finally realising Hinata had been in the room all along and noisily greeting her with one of his overzealous hugs.

"Idiot," Tsunade growled. She lost her anger and sat down behind her desk, wearier than she'd felt in years. "As for you two…"

Sakura stood straight at the imminent lecture from her shishou but Itachi didn't move.

"Uchiha," the Hokage said, staring at him. "What am I supposed to do with you now?"

"What you must," Itachi said, ignoring Sakura's sharp intake of breath. He was prepared for whatever punishment was coming to him. The elderly advisors would upon them soon, knowing them as he did, and there would be hell to pay.

X X X

**A/N: I love an Ibiki who is cheeky while "on the job". Hope it's not too OOC, as I just can't seem to bring myself to make him stiff and boring. Whatever.  
>The next chapter will involve a small time-skip, nothing major, and a spot of drama. ;)<strong>

**Lotsa love! ^_^**

**R&R**


	6. Eclipsing Euphoria

**A/N: Sorry I'm late! My ItaSaku muse DIED! Seriously, as much as some intangible being is capable of it, it actually DID DIE! I even sulked and agonised over it – it wasn't pretty. :P  
>This is a pretty heady chapter – it used to be two, but I was getting annoyed with it, so I merged them. Another reason it's so late. So, this is me begging for mercy... you guys still love me, right? ;)<strong>

**Anyway, thanks to** ItaSaku1, MadGirl03, Anon, Smokin, IridescentInTheDark, ItaSaku Hardcore Fan, moonlit notebook **and** Annabella Colt** for reviewing chapter 5.  
><strong>Anon: **I love KakaSaku too! I haven't written any yet, but I suppose ****this**** fic is slightly KakaSaku, even if only one-sided. I just decided to flex it a little: call it practise. :)**

**Enough of me, enjoy! ^_^**

Chapter 6 – Eclipsing Euphoria.

"_Happiness isn't absolute, joy isn't eternal; and yet we continue to fool ourselves into thinking it will never end."_

–

They went back to her place – he did not want to return to the Uchiha district, at least not yet. She understood this. The past few days had been strenuous at best, and not just for Sakura and Itachi. After that incident in Tsunade's office with Danzou Shimura, the old man been held on several accounts of treason and attempted murder, but the council kept pushing back his sentence. News from the fire Daimyo had sparked a war of words and due to the relationship Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane had with Danzou, they were removed from the decision making on the ROOT commander's sentence. The scholarly advisors did however, have a say on the final decision regarding Itachi, and were being difficult. The clan heads and civilian council were under pressure to spare Danzou an execution in return for the same favour for the former Uchiha heir.

Since then, Tsunade insisted Itachi prove himself, to give the advisors more reason to trust him – his idea was the same as before: to retrieve the documentation he had on Madara. The paperwork was holed up in the same shack he had kept Sakura in after her captivity at Sasuke's hands, and only he could get past the genjutsu he'd set up around it. That was how he was allowed to leave Konoha temporarily, to get it – Sakura and Team Guy were sent with him, officially as "escorts", with Maito Gai in charge of the mission.

Sakura watched as Itachi slept soundly on the bed they shared. Before leaving on that mission, she'd spoken with her parents about the apartment they'd owned since she was five years old – ever since they'd finally realised their little girl was not going to give up on her dream of being a Kunoichi. It was in a Shinobi district, large enough for a small dinner party and had two bedrooms: not that the second room was being used. The living room was quaint, but the kitchen had all the comforts. Every inch of the place had a _homely_ feel to it – probably her parents' way of telling her they still expected children from her.

Sakura smiled slightly as Itachi rolled over in his sleep. He didn't seem troubled, but she knew running into his former Akatsuki partner had definitely ruffled him. Kisame Hoshigaki was an enigma, rolled up in fish scale skin.

– **Flashback –**

The shack was a few days out from Konoha, surprisingly closer to the hidden leaf than Sakura would've thought. They travelled mostly in silence, as Sakura didn't want to get into it with the members of Team Guy about why she trusted Itachi so implicitly. They knew what they needed to know, for now. Lee and Gai of course, were all for letting bygones be bygones – it was apparently un-youthful to hold grudges. Tenten was wary, but she tried to converse with Itachi, being the one to serve him when they had dinner that Sakura hadn't made (she was an okay cook, but Tenten blew her ability out of the water, so to speak). Neji however, was standoffish, watching with hawk-like eyes and not saying a word. He wasn't the kind to attack someone when not on the battlefield, this Sakura knew, but she worried about that look on his face nonetheless. For someone so naturally stoic, he was obvious in his distrust.

He had a lot in common with Itachi, so she hoped he could let everything else go.

Sakura discovered, on the trip to the shack, that she really needed the rest of the Leaf Eleven to be on her side: their camaraderie was important to her. She had nothing else to do but dwell on everything.

She remembered how annoying Itachi had said getting to the shack without being noticed could be, what with Tobi's spies hanging around in the forests – most notably Zetsu. He didn't keep his Sharingan up the entire time, only looking every now and then when he was concerned. If either Lee or Gai noticed the red and black tomoe, they didn't let on. Tenten glanced at him the first time, but kept her eyes in front after that, and again, Neji's distrust was making him uncharacteristically easy to read – he was clearly annoyed.

They had just entered the small clearing that Sakura recognised when Itachi stopped then, holding up his hand. "Wait, Gai."

The taijutsu specialist, despite being the one in charge, halted immediately, bringing his team to a standstill. "What is it? What do you sense Itachi?"

"Trouble."

The voice that echoed around them was mocking, yet oddly pleasant. "Aaww, now that's not nice Itachi-Senpai."

Everyone in the small clearing stiffened, taking their own battle stances. Sakura moved closer to Itachi; a slight shift of his head told her he was not readying himself to fight, but she stuck close to him nonetheless.

"Senpai?" Lee whined, looking around. "Whoever you are, show yourself."

Kisame Hoshigaki appeared in front of Itachi in a swirl of mist, his canines barred as he grinned at his former partner. "I told you, didn't I? I told you that turning on Madara would have consequence."

"_Tobi_," Itachi corrected him.

"Yes, yes, _Tobi_." Kisame waved away the Uchiha's tone, shifting his Samehada unnecessarily on his shoulder. "But like I was saying: there are consequences."

"And you're here to dispense it?"

Kisame's grin widened. "I've been entrusted with the task of separating your head from your shoulders."

"Then you had best hurry," Itachi said, fighting the urge to smile back at him. If Kisame had really come here to fight, there would have been no warning.

Kisame threw his head back and laughed. "And leader-sama always said you didn't have a sense of humour. You're right Senpai, I'm not here to fight you, just to warn you." He indicated behind him. "That's it, isn't it: your _secret_ hideout?"

"And the warning?"

"Eh, you don't have to take all the fun out of this. Yeah, I came to warn you. _Tobi_ wants Sasuke, he wants the jinchuriki brat, and you... well, dead or alive on that account." He frowned. "I guess me coming here is sort of like going against that, since he wants you intact enough to get your eyes to Sasuke."

"He knew you wouldn't try to kill me."

"Ah, yeah well, that would explain a few things."

Sakura glanced at Team Guy as the two former partners talked about Madara... uh, Tobi's plans. He wasn't really Madara Uchiha – she needed to keep reminding herself of that. The camaraderie between Kisame and Itachi was comical, even Neji was intrigued.

"I don't mean to rush you," Gai said, "but we have business to tend to. Itachi?"

The Uchiha nodded. "Yes. You should leave Kisame."

"Wait, what?" Tenten snapped. "He's an S rank criminal – we can't just let him go."

Kisame just grinned at her. "Don't be like that: I come in peace. Isn't that what passes as a white flag with the leaf these days?"

"Touché."

"And anyway," Kisame added, losing the smile. "I'm not affiliated with Akatsuki anymore: note the absence of the cloak. Madara would have my head if he was here, witnessing this."

"Tobi," Itachi corrected.

"Yeah, yeah. You have three months Senpai, and then he's coming."

"Why so long?"

"Fucked if I know, but it'll be the seventh of May – apparently that has some sort of significance."

"Hm."

The blue skinned, former Akatsuki member disappeared as quickly as he'd come, and Sakura stared at the place Kisame had disappeared from as Itachi retrieved what they were looking for. That conversation had been... weird.

– **End Flashback –**

Shrugging off the memory, Sakura left Itachi to sleep and stepped into the shower. Tsunade had her report and the information Kisame gave them was being regarded seriously – she was glad. The man might have had a past with the Akatsuki, but he was one of the few who were steering clear of Tobi, especially since his true identity had been revealed. The seventh of May... Sakura had looked it up; confirming her suspicions, it was supposed to have been the real Madara's birthday. There was so much about this that wasn't adding up – why would he hold off just to attack on that specific day? She could understand him holding off in order to gather more forces, to come at them with everything he had, but _this_ didn't make any sense.

As she washed herself, she couldn't get that conversation between Itachi and Kisame out of her head. Itachi had seemed so at ease, like speaking to a best friend, or confidant. Her own conversations with Itachi seemed to revolved everything they needed to do, everything that was going on... but thankfully, he had yet to broach the subject of Sasuke with her, like she knew he wanted to.

Still, it bugged her that she was feeling jealous of his friendship with some shark wannabe.

Sakura turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, taking a moment to realise she wasn't alone anymore. Itachi had woken up. She turned bright red at his blatant stares at her body, and faced away from him to grab her towel. Wrapping it around her body, she distinctly heard him chuckle.

"I've seen it all before, Sakura."

She huffed at him. He chuckled again, coming up behind her. Itachi embraced her; she moaned at the feel of him as his left arm wrapped around her waist. He slid his right hand under the back of her towel, and without removing the material, he lifted her right knee, hooking her leg backward and around his frame. Raining light kisses on her shoulder, Itachi slipped his fingers into her wet folds.

Sakura bucked, leaning heavily against his chest, closing her eyes in anticipation. He dug his fingers into her and instinctively, she rolled her hips, grinding against the ever increasing erection pressed into her back. He was taking it slowly, turning her on, allowing himself the time he wanted to enjoy the sounds his ministrations were eliciting from the excited pinkette in his arms. But once she came, he wouldn't stop. He kept at it, driving her crazy as her body shuddered uncontrollably.

Itachi's body was the only thing holding her up when he tore the towel from her body, scooped Sakura up, and carried her over to their bed. He had yet to have the pleasure of taking her since his return, and could admit to himself that he was more excited now than he had ever been in that shack. Here, he took his time again, now to fully explore the naked woman beneath him. He had had a lover before leaving the village – he seemed to be doing everything earlier than anyone he knew – and remembered her fondly, but there had been no emotional ties: he had not hesitated to cut her down, that night.

But Sakura... he would take on the world for her. He would renege on every other promise he'd made himself. He would tear down the moon.

Itachi kissed his cherry blossom as she helped him to undress. He couldn't get enough of her, using his mouth to explore her perfect skin, to bring her to fulfilment and to part her legs. When he was fully seated within her, he was in heaven. He slid in easily, felt her walls grip him tightly, and moved slowly out before slamming back in with such force that all Sakura could do was hold on for dear life. She encircled his lean form with her legs and moved with him.

She rolled them over as they tangle themselves up in the sheets –neither of them seemed to care. This was making love: she could tell the difference between this and just having sex – the difference between love and lust. He kissed her almost continuously, breaking away from her lips only to place feather light kisses on her jaw line, her neck, and her breasts, before making his way back up to her mouth.

And the moment they came together, Sakura felt fully loved, and complete.

X X X

His dreams reminded him of the days before the order to kill his clan. Despite the pressure Fugaku had put on him and despite the raving from the elders when he started to act out, those days had been full of light for him – and light brought hope, even in the face of adversity.

He wasn't a victim. He wasn't some idiot. Yes, looking back at it, he realised he'd been played for a fool – being a prodigy didn't mean he was infallible. But Itachi hadn't spent the last eight years pining and wondering where he went wrong. He had honestly believed he'd done the right thing by the village. Maybe, in the end, he really had: but it wasn't the right thing by Sasuke. It was never the right thing to drive someone insane. If he could take it back, he would do it differently: he just didn't know _how_.

Itachi had finally realised he didn't need to do everything alone.

But in the end, this was a moot point. He'd gone over every angle, considered every possible outcome, and the final battle still hadn't turned out to be what he'd expected. He had intended to die at Sasuke's hands: to exert himself so that his otouto's success would be more believable... but Itachi had done what he'd thought to be impossible – he'd fallen in love.

He would not forsake Sasuke, but he could not bring himself to abandon Sakura, so a compromise had begun to form in his mind. If he could take out Madara, who he realised too late was Tobi (though really, he _should_ have known), then handling Sasuke would be much easier. He was the one Sasuke had sworn revenge against, and Tobi had taken advantage of that. Itachi needed to correct his mistake. And more than anything, he wanted to go visit Sasuke, in whatever hole Ibiki was holding him in. He wanted to tell him how sorry he was, for everything.

These thoughts kept him from resting peacefully, even with the warmth of the very naked Sakura Haruno pressed against him. So when he finally did wake up, he didn't feel like he'd slept at all.

Itachi managed to repress the groan that was building up in his throat: the familiar chest pain wasn't making it easy. He carefully untangled himself from Sakura and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. That was a mistake. Itachi convulsed, falling onto the floor on all fours and coughing.

'_Blood?"_

It was coming sooner than he'd expected. The spasm wracking his body was not unfamiliar, but he wasn't expecting it for another few days at least. It never came back this quickly. So it had to have been brought on by... he managed to twist his head to look up where Sakura was still resting – she moaned as though in pain and he couldn't stop the groan from exiting his own mouth this time. She was coming to... Itachi bowed his head, resting heavily on his haunches and unable to move. The pain in his muscles was debilitating and all he could do was bite his lip to keep from making more sound.

But Sakura had heard him, and as the world spun around him, Itachi took in her shocked face once more before he lost consciousness.

X X X

"I'm so sorry Sakura," Tsunade said lightly, but with no indication she was playing around. "But he's dying."

Sakura was angrier than she had been in her entire life. How could this happen? She had only just found him. She had only just gotten comfortable with the idea that she could actually be happy. He was her soul mate, she realised this now. How could she not with everything she had been through? They had murmured "I love you" to each other as they rolled around in the sheets on her bed, and she'd mentioned the term soul mate to him once before – it was how, when she'd been looking for him in the forest, that she'd known to go straight to the Fuuin jutsu barring entry into the Uchiha compound. She would've waited forever, but knew she didn't need to.

The ROOT members had just delayed the inevitable.

They were soul mates... and yet she hadn't sensed his health problems. But Sakura looked back, realising the signs were there. Was she just too blind to see? Her desire to see him again had superseded her medical training and she'd found him without opening her eyes. His physical maladies were so obvious. It killed her: she couldn't breathe.

Sakura stared into the brown eyes of her shishou, not really registering the empathic sadness in them. She wanted to scream and cry, she wanted to tell her she was lying and run into the hospital room to find Itachi sitting up on his own, healthier than _Sasuke_, hell healthier than _her_.

She was vaguely aware of the moisture gathering on her cheeks. She was crying, but unlike the Sakura of the past, who was definitely quick to sob, these were silent tears of understanding. The illusion had been lifted, and the signs she _should_ have noticed were blaring at her in neon lights.

After watching Itachi collapse, Sakura had tried to examine him, to see what the problem was. Kneeling over him, as naked as the day she was born, all she could fathom was that he was having some kind of pulmonary attack. But the blood he'd coughed up and the strain her chakra felt on his muscles screamed some sort of intrinsic disease. This drove the acceptance out of her mind and she was furious. It couldn't be true!

And again, her perspective shifted: her shishou was talking.

"We can't operate on him," Tsunade was saying. "Not while he still possesses his eyes. The heart palpitations, chest pains, coughing of blood, paling, sweating, muscle pain... I could go on: they're all symptoms of mitral stenosis. It's not within our ability to cure, I'm sorry Sakura. His overuse of the Sharingan has only made things worse for him: if he hadn't been so damned concerned about keeping the thing activated, and for so long, it might've been reparable..."

Her voice faded into the background. Sakura could barely breathe: her own heart was palpitating. He couldn't be dying, not now. Tsunade was _wrong_! He would have told her, he would have... Itachi made a living out of keeping secrets, so he fell back into that habit with her... She couldn't lose him, not now. This wasn't real.

But the phantom Tsunade she was imagining wouldn't go away. She'd stopped talking and was looking at her with a look of pity... sadness? She might not be the one in love with Itachi Uchiha, but she was still upset. Tsunade had met him before the clan massacre, and she had cared back _then_: and now, her star student, who she'd come to respect as a daughter (despite Sakura's parents being alive), was suffering. It was not the sort of thing she'd have ever taken lightly, but Tsunade felt this time, like _she_ was the one in pain.

Empathy was a _bitch_.

Sakura gripped her chest and let it out. "No!"

Tsunade embraced her, not understanding. Sakura _knew_ she was wrong. Mitral stenosis (or whatever it really was), was fatal, but she knew that it had only progressed so far because of that damned kekkei genkai. If he got a transplant, he could recover – the road would be long, painful and potentially a waste of time... but she believed he was strong enough to do it. The older woman seemed to think he was beyond that now. She had given up.

But, there was no-one else for Sakura anymore. Not Naruto, Kakashi... no-one. Not even Sasuke...

'_Sasuke.'_

Sasuke was _healthy_. He was insane, but his body was healthy – he didn't have some congenital disease that the Sharingan was exacerbating. It was too cruel a fate, too twisted a providence that the man she _truly_ loved was on his death bed, while the fiend who had tortured her and left her to die would one day recover from his wounds. It put a whole new spin on the physical versus emotional pain debate.

Sakura pushed Tsunade away none too gently and moved passed her without a word. The Hokage let her go, watching sadly as her student ordered out the nurse in Itachi's room before closing the door in her face.

X X X

Sakura had slept away most of the day, curled up next to Itachi, waiting for him to wake up. But although this wasn't some kind of coma – close enough – he wasn't expected to regain consciousness for a few more hours after sunset. She'd dreamt about the future she'd envisioned with him, and woken to the cold hard truth: there was only one thing left to do.

So she left the hospital, stopped by her apartment to redress and fetch her kodachi, and snuck into the building for the ANBU black ops Torture and Interrogation Core. She was a Kunoichi, so she knew how to infiltrate even high security buildings. Itachi had told her that her skills were ANBU level, so she put them to work, slipping between doors and past the shadows created by the walls faster than even most ninja eyes could follow. The lower levels here held the dungeons where interrogations were held, along with the imprisonment of said subjects. It was only a temporary imprisonment, as the Konoha Prison was where they all went eventually – the ones who survived.

Sakura had been down here before, as a medic assigned to healing the criminals Ibiki or any of his staff interrogated. They _were_ criminals, the worst of the worst who had information Konoha needed. So even though she detested the screaming, the _humanity_ of it all, she knew it had to be done. Who knew how many times Ibiki had gleaned information from a captive that could potentially save lives?

She blinked heavily, adjusting her eyes to the semi dark as she went underground. The walls here were less pristine and more natural, like rock formations that had merely been painted over for the dank and unwelcoming feel. She supposed the prisoners were more intimidated by this than your ordinary four walled room.

Sakura blocked a scream she heard from her head, coming from somewhere off to her right, that didn't belong to anyone she would recognise. She knew exactly where she was going, after all. The signs that hung from the ceiling were unnecessary, but she felt oddly comforted as she found the cell door to where Sasuke Uchiha had recently been placed. He was in there, she could sense his chakra. Despite his insanity, Ibiki had had to get rough with him, though Sakura had overheard Tsunade tell him not to go overboard, after all it wasn't entirely the Uchiha's fault.

'_Not his fault my ass.'_

Plenty of people are betrayed or tortured and goaded toward the dark side only to tell that dark side to fuck off. Sasuke may not have instigated his path, with the death of his clan, but he was _entirely_ responsible for his current predicament. Itachi did not drive him animalistic; his own susceptibility to being manipulated along with both Orochimaru and Madara's influences were what drove him to this. He _let_ the darkness in. He _let_ it control his actions rather than seeing the truth. He didn't even _try_ to see that what he was doing was wrong.

So Sakura felt vindicated, entering the cell without closing the door behind herself. She felt justified as she drew her kodachi from the scabbard on her back and held it out toward Sasuke.

The raven haired man looked up at her, his eyes placid, unlike the last time he'd taken in her appearance. But he was done being surprised by her. He was done trying to figure out how she was alive and well. Onyx eyes met green and he waited patiently, curious as to whether or not she would actually go through with it. No-one had told him anything about how she'd been found, rescued and healed, and he _had_ asked. He was the first to admit he'd gotten out of control, even down here in this dank _basement_, but he knew he didn't look particularly violent right now, even unbathed and unkempt.

Sakura continued to stare into his eyes, glad that he had no access to his chakra. She was steeling herself for this. Itachi was dying. Itachi needed two _new_ Sharingan eyes if he was going to survive for very much longer. It was too dangerous to go looking for Madara, but why bother when there was a perfectly good set staring straight at her?

She knew what he was thinking when she lifted the blade, not moving her body an inch other than to position the kodachi, ready to strike. She couldn't close her eyes to his; no matter what he had done to _her_, this was entirely about Itachi. It was only about being with _him_, and not about the two and a half weeks she'd spent as Sasuke's prisoner, or the two and a half _months_ it had taken her to recover enough just to get back to her friends and family. Sure, if Sasuke hadn't found her, discovered she had information he could use, captured her, tortured her, realised she was prepared for this so much that she welcomed death, and left her in her own mental nightmare, then she would never have fallen in love with Itachi. She would never have been found by him, healed, _loved_ by him, and saved, both physically and emotionally.

Sakura knew now how _good_ life could really be.

But this wasn't about revenge. This was about saving the man she loved.

Sakura didn't bother to apologise, or explain her actions. She just thrust the blade forward, aiming straight for Sasuke's heart.

X X X

**A/N: Hm... **

**I've been thinking I should change the Hurt/Comfort on the genre to Angst. Thoughts? I have no idea what to do with it. This is coming out so angsty, it's depressing, lol. So I'll leave it up to you guys... Hurt/Comfort or Angst?**

**Anyway, lotsa love, and review! ^_^**

**R&R**


	7. Selflessness and Sacrifice

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know – I'm fickle. I wasn't going to write this again for awhile, but I woke up this morning with an urge to complete this chapter, so it's officially off "hiatus". How weird is that? n_n And okay, I'm keeping the hurt/comfort: just excuse me as I also get angsty. ;)**

**Also, I wanted to iterate something:  
><strong>In mourning and anguish we don't think, we don't consider alternatives. When swept up in the moment, we are prone to idiocy – the things we do might not be smart or well thought out, as they come from a place of panic and lack of direction. That's when our path forward becomes more dangerous and only hindsight can show us how stupid we really are. It's all a part of the human condition.

**Anyhoo, enjoy! ^_^**

Chapter 7 – Selflessness and Sacrifice.

"_What we want and what Kami plans are two different things. And there is no absolution unless the love is selfless and true."_

–

The days had grown shorter; even by the standards of this time of year Konoha was unseasonably chilly. People were milling about heat sources as usual, carrying cups of coffee, tea, drinking chocolate, or other hot beverages as they went. But no matter how cold it had gotten over the past few months, nothing lasted forever. The Hokage believed that, given enough time, the other unseasonably chill in the air would also disappear – though it was going to take a miracle to make _this_ disappear as quickly as a three month season did.

Rumours abound in the presence of both Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha in the leaf. Tsunade had been asked multiple times by colleagues who weren't afraid of her when she wasn't already angry as well as some who wouldn't normally approach her without a good reason – everyone wanted to know what was going on. They kept it discreet of course, considering they were still ninja and capable of restraining themselves from acting like civilians with juicy gossip (though she worried over those Yamanaka women). News had spread fast that Sakura was in love with Itachi and the village was divided between those who were worried about her and those who thought it was just another "Uchiha crush" as the idiom went.

So when Tsunade spotted her former apprentice leaving the hospital she couldn't help but wonder _where_ she was going. She looked determined – a flush of anger that was being controlled and directed to a single, important task. She hadn't seen Sakura this focused since the last time they trained together. It was then, entirely possible that the pinkette was preparing herself for battle.

She stood three feet from Itachi's room, torn between her desire to chase her kouhai down and her duty to check on her patient's vitals. The internal battle registered on her face as a twitch of the mouth for a moment before she turned and opened Itachi's door. Figuring out what Sakura was up to could wait – she needed to retake blood samples from Itachi to double check her original estimated rate of decay of his blood cells. She was sure Sakura would appreciate _that_.

Shizune had been bugging her about paperwork again saying, "you're the Hokage, not the head doctor" but Tsunade didn't want to leave Itachi in the care of someone Sakura would only gripe about – she had enough to worry about. So currently, her paperwork was divided amongst a few assistants, with the more important "stamp of approval worthy" documents coming her way in the morning.

It could wait.

Itachi stirred in the middle of her examination and was awake by the time Tsunade had retracted the syringe. He was another one who would think she was wasting her time on him, and promptly told her so once he realised who it was that had been looking after him. Tsunade just waved him off.

"Everything is fine Itachi-san."

"Where is Sakura?"

"She stepped out," Tsunade said.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at her. She wasn't fidgeting, but the woman wasn't looking straight at him either – her focus was on a spot above and to the left of his eyes.

"What is wrong?"

Tsunade sighed. "Why do you have to be so observant?"

He couldn't help it, Itachi let out a soft chuckle as he shifted in the bed, sitting up despite the spasm of muscle pain this caused him. "I wouldn't be me, Hokage-sama."

"Of course not."

So she told him – from her diagnosis to Sakura's reaction. Basically, it was everything he missed after he blacked out.

"Mitral stenosis," Itachi said slowly.

He knew what it was of course, but was surprised at the rate of degradation of his cells. He'd suspected using his Sharingan so much might weaken him due to his condition, which was just another reason to keep it activated for so long – the Hokage accused him of being a masochist before leaving his hospital room in a mock huff. He'd been planning on weakening himself before fighting Sasuke, so in a way, he didn't regret it.

'_Sasuke.'_

Itachi remembered the Hokage had said Sakura left abruptly. For some reason, he felt uncomfortable about this, and his thoughts also lingered on his otouto. He looked around, activating his Sharingan for only a moment to see where the nearby nurses were before climbing out of bed, redressing, and sneaking out the window.

He needed to find Sakura, and fast.

X X X

He could sense her chakra. She wasn't far away now. Itachi Uchiha picked up his pace, ignoring the stares as he made his way through the village. The civilians and ninja gawking at him did not matter to him right now, only finding Sakura. He had a bad feeling he knew what she was about to do. And as much as he appreciated how far she would go to save him, he _had_ to stop her. He would not have her committing murder for him, not ever. This wasn't some assassination mission where it was expected of her to draw blood, or even a normal assignment, where the death of an enemy _may_ become prudent to seek, in order to complete the mission.

Hell, it wasn't even like an accidental civilian death that would need to be covered up and blamed on said enemy.

This was murder. His otouto had done some horrific things, but Itachi had no intention of Sasuke dying so that _he_ could live. There was no way to make Sakura understand, so first things first: he had to _stop_ her, by force if necessary. He could never hurt the woman he loved. But she was actually more susceptible than most to the sleep inducing effect of his Sharingan. This was a thought he was considering.

Itachi could _feel_ her so strongly. He wondered if this was a result of their intimacy, or what she had called them being soul mates. The idea that they were _meant_ for each other sent a rush of emotions through his body, and he had to make a conscious effort to keep his features neutral. He wasn't going to let anything distract him from what he had to do.

He landed outside the building for the ANBU black ops Torture and Interrogation Core, made a quick, visual inspection of the building, and then disappeared into it, unseen. He was used to the sounds of people in pain – of criminals, and innocents alike – so the lower levels of this structure did not bother him. He had no idea where Sasuke's cell was, and this place was designed to make it more difficult to track a person's chakra. The reasoning for this had something to do with an attempted escape close to fifty years ago which took the life of the head of the Interrogation Core.

But Itachi was following the sensation he had, deep inside of him, that _felt_ like Sakura.

Moving quietly, he quickly found her, her arm raised, and a kodachi in her hands: _her_ kodachi. He slipped up behind her, ignoring his otouto's widened eyes and pulled her away from Sasuke. She resisted immediately, lashing out at him and yelling for him to let her go. She _had_ to do this, didn't he understand?

Sakura struggled in vain, the vice-like grip on both of her arms pulling her out of the room. She was crying, thrashing like a wild animal, trying to get him to let her kill Sasuke. But he would not let her. No matter what Sasuke had become, he would not trade his otouto's life for his own. Once she realised she had lost this fight, Sakura slumped against him in defeat, the tears coming quietly as she kept her eyes on the ground; her hands still firmly gripping the hilt of her Kodachi.

Itachi glanced in at Sasuke for a second, locking eyes with his brother; the confusion on his face was slowly being replaced by anger. But before the younger brother could say anything, Itachi closed the door in his face.

X X X

Arriving back in the leaf with Yamato-Senpai, Sai was quickly bombarded by the guards, Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki. While the wood jutsu specialist headed off to report on their mission, Sai stood still, listening to the latest gossip on his pink haired, former team mate. That girl was a problem, or was always causing one – he wasn't sure which was the correct term but it sounded like she'd outdone herself this time.

It made him wonder where Naruto was during all of this, and Kakashi-Senpai.

He listened for a little while longer about everyone's concerns about what Itachi Uchiha had really returned for, and then darted away without excusing himself.

Sai trusted the hag – Sakura wouldn't deliberately put the village in danger. She hadn't even chosen Sasuke over Konoha when it came down to it. But after what the traitor had done to her, Sai wasn't surprised the pinkette hated him. _He'd_ been tortured before, understanding that only the truly sadistic would do such a thing: it wasn't a viable interrogation technique, not really. People usually ended up telling you what you wanted to hear just to stop the pain – so by definition, that didn't automatically make their ramblings the truth.

It was a sick world.

Sai stopped moving, having landed lithely after jumping down from the last roof before the Twenty-Seventh Training Ground – this was a familiar place. Shortly after Sasuke's betrayal, the remaining Konoha Twelve (now only the leaf eleven) had started meeting up here in this rarely used training area – their Sensei's didn't even come here. It was a place they could talk without being over heard; with their multitude of jutsus and keen senses, they hadn't been spied on yet.

Sai mused on that thought as he walked the rest of the way, keeping an eye out so as to not be followed.

He'd been invited to join them by Naruto after that debacle with Sasuke and Orochimaru when he'd decided to choose friendship over duty, but still didn't know what he was doing there. The other teams had treated him with a mixture of wariness and curiosity at first, but quickly got used to his presence. He hadn't heard anything that anyone would want to follow them there to know, and their training regiments were decided on far too spontaneously – only Lee and Naruto took them seriously every time.

It seemed more to him like a social hideaway.

Sai stopped walking, realising he had made it to the usual spot in his absentmindedness, and noticed that he was the last to arrive. He was meticulous in noting which teams were out of the village at any given point, so knew all of them would be there.

"Sai, over here!" Ino waved to him enthusiastically and he moved toward her instinctively.

The woman had been going out of her way to address him and include him on her rock – a stump shaped rock she used to share with either Sakura or Tenten (Hinata always sat next to Naruto). Sai looked around at the small groups with hidden interest: Shikamaru and Choji were on a fallen tree trunk with Kiba while Akamaru sat next to it; Naruto and Hinata shared a stump that Sai had often called the "love seat". Tenten was sitting under a tree with Lee, and casting furtive glances at Neji while he leant against the very tree Shino was inspecting for bugs – there were none, but he always looked.

Again: social hideaway.

It was a fascinating example of the things Sai had never experienced before meeting Naruto, so he watched and listened with interest every time he came here. He never trained, feeling that was something he could do anywhere else, while this was an opportunity that only came around when they were all here.

But this time, they weren't expecting Sakura.

"She's bonkers," Ino said, once Sai got comfortable next to her. "I have no idea what's going on in that forehead of hers."

"She's in love," Hinata said softly, her hand clasping Naruto's.

"With yet another Uchiha," Ino groaned. "Doesn't that bother you?"

"No."

Sai listed eagerly as they all debated it – even Neji and Shino spoke up, which didn't always happen at these things. Shikamaru roused listlessly on Ino (once he was forced into the conversation), telling her to be a supportive friend, not a troublesome one, which sparked a one-sided argument with them. Eventually however, Ino calmed down and turned to the only person who hadn't _actually_ spoken (Sai had offered his services in cutting off the Uchiha's penis if he so much as hurt Sakura, but mostly because he didn't want to be left out of the conversation).

"What do you think Naruto?" Ino asked him. "You were there when the elders gave their ultimatum – what do you think we can do for Sakura?"

Naruto lowered his head sombrely, remembering what had happened as his eyes flickered over Hinata's hand – the one that was currently entwined with his. The elders had been able to slither not only into the decision making when it came to Itachi, but were causing trouble for Sasuke. They had agreed to release Itachi into Sakura's care, due to his "condition" but would only let Kakashi have Sasuke released (without access to his chakra, at least at first) under the same conditions if every former member of Team Seven agreed. They had been banking on Sakura's desire to see Sasuke rot in that hole for the rest of his life.

And it had worked.

X X X

Time was a killer. Kakashi Hatake had seen firsthand what too much time did to the people he cared about. It started innocently, lulling him into a false sense of security, and then when his guard was down (metaphorically speaking of course) it struck. When left with nothing to do and a lot of time to dwell on that fact, Kakashi did not do well. He reflected too much on what he'd lost and what could possibly go wrong next time – which was one of the reasons he'd been so inattentive about rules and regulations after Obito's death.

'_Obito.'_

The man's birthday was coming up in a few days. This meant more time at the memorial stone.

Kakashi sighed and stared at the door in front of him – it led to the apartment Sakura was sharing with Itachi, but the pinkette wasn't home. She was in the market place: he'd seen her on his way here. This would be his first time alone speaking with Itachi and the copy ninja could admit to himself that he was nervous. They used to be friends, they used to be colleagues – Kakashi could never have imagined they'd also one day be in love with the same woman.

Sakura was precious to both of them, and Kakashi had no doubt that Itachi was the only man the pinkette wanted. It tore at him but he couldn't show it: he would rather die. That was why he needed to focus on helping Sasuke now. It was something to do – something to occupy his mind so that he didn't go mad doing nothing.

He fingered the wood of the door in front of him, remembering that conversation in the Hokage's office only yesterday – after he'd found out about Itachi's condition two days ago.

– **Flashback –**

_Tsunade, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura were in the Hokage's office as ordered, having been summoned to hear the final word on Sasuke's fate. It was more like an F.Y.I: the elderly advisors, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, were adamant and rude. Kakashi spent most of their spiel on how just because Itachi was dying, this didn't mean Sasuke got a free pass. The pinkette standing like a statue in the centre of the room twitched slightly at this, but said nothing. She'd been ordered to come here, while ANBU kept an eye on her apartment (or rather, on Itachi) but wasn't in the mood to be compliant to a pair of overrated fools._

_But it wasn't the advisors that would piss her off: they had a point – everyone in the room knew she was thinking this. Sasuke was dangerous, Sasuke was irresponsible… he hadn't shown any hint of remorse for his actions. Madara was bound to attack – they believed it with or without Kisame Hoshigaki's warning – but they couldn't and wouldn't trust Sasuke not to take advantage of that._

_But Naruto argued that he was more than capable of physically restraining the Uchiha, especially with the chakra suppressants on the man. Tsunade suggested they test Sasuke, to see if he could be relied upon, before throwing away the possibility. Itachi was a consideration from her perspective, on that front._

_And again, Sakura twitched in annoyance._

_Kakashi wanted to speak up – to say something to appease her – but nothing came to mind. From the point of view of a ninja, and not someone who was personally involved with the older of the Uchiha, he could see the logic in this plan. So he kept quiet._

_That was a mistake._

_Sakura snapped._

_Naruto had just told the elders that they owed Sasuke when the pinkette lost her cool._

"_Excuse me," she snarled, making everyone in the room stand straight, in case she attacked. "What did you just say Naruto?"_

_He turned on her, frowning. "The elders owe teme," he repeated._

_She moved quickly, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him against the wall – surprisingly, no-one moved to stop her. This wasn't some rampage of anger like normal: it was pure fury._

"_I will NEVER agree to having that snake released from his hole," she snarled. "And don't tell me I owe him too Naruto." Kakashi frowned at the anguish in her voice as she continued. "I owe that bastard nothing."_

_And with that, she released him. "Since you clearly care more about your precious Sasuke-kun than me, I'm out of here."_

_She shunshined out._

– **End Flashback –**

'_And here I am,'_ Kakashi thought, _'trying to work up the courage to ask Itachi to talk her into agreeing.'_

The elders didn't think anything could be said to convince Sakura, but they were underestimating the connection she had with Itachi.

Swallowing a lump in his throat, Kakashi knocked on the door with trepidation.

Itachi was not surprised this had not happened earlier. Kakashi Hatake had been on his ANBU squad prior to the massacre of the Uchiha, and he had considered the copy ninja a friend. This possibly had a lot to do with why Kakashi spent so much time worried over Sasuke, and personally seeing to his Sharingan training. It was also the reason Kakashi had put off coming to see his "old friend", until now. Or so he'd surmised.

Sakura was out, gathering what she needed for dinner, wanting to spoil Itachi. She had turned into the coddling "other half" type that refused to believe he wasn't made of glass. He didn't know how to stop her as every "I'm fine" and "I can do it myself" fell on deaf ears. The pinkette had backed him into a corner, quite literally. He tried to physically stop her, but in order to maintain that, he would have to hold onto her for the rest of his life. The idea was not without merit though…

"Hatake," Itachi stated evenly, having opened the door to the apartment, knowing very well who was on the other side.

Kakashi did not smile at him, but he wasn't frowning or scowling at him either. He didn't want to come over as some domineering Shinobi who claimed to know what Sakura needed more than the Uchiha. Though he believed he _did_. Ever since Sakura had told him about Itachi, all Kakashi wanted to do was keep him away from her. He had to keep his desires to himself, not actually familiar with what it was like on the receiving end of unrequited love – he'd only ever been the cause of it before.

He nodded his head to his old friend. "Itachi. May I come in?"

Itachi moved so that the older man could enter and closed the door. Kakashi felt strange, entering this apartment, knowing the Uchiha was living here too. He kept this to himself as he turned to face the man.

"I need to talk to you about Sasuke."

Itachi nodded, not surprised. He walked further into the apartment, forcing Kakashi to follow him. He didn't bother to offer him sustenance, correctly interpreting the fact that the copy ninja wasn't here to socialise. The older man did not intend to share tea with him. So Itachi stood with his back leaning against the window that had a perfect view over the Shinobi residential area, his arms crossed over his chest. He remembered that the market district wasn't too far from here, and stared at the silver haired ninja, neither of them sitting down.

Knowing Itachi wasn't going to start the conversation, Kakashi obliged him.

"I'm sure you're aware of what the council said, that they won't release Sasuke unless every former member of Team Seven agrees with it. They're hoping that what happened between him and Sakura will prevent them from having to let him out of his cell."

Kakashi said the words with barely contained disdain, furious that the council would let Itachi wander unescorted, but wouldn't even let Sasuke out of that dank prison. They were _both_ victims of Danzou's scheming, not just Itachi. Tsunade was furious at the elderly council, but had relented, agreeing that it was for the best. She had then promptly taken Kakashi aside (once the interfering mongrels were gone) and asked him to talk Itachi into convincing Sakura. Nobody was ignoring the fact that Sasuke had tortured Sakura, or that he'd left her in a state worse than death. But they needed every Sharingan wielder _active_ when Madara finally made his move, and Sasuke was… powerful. It couldn't just be overlooked.

So Kakashi had swallowed his pride, not really wanting to talk with Itachi about his former team mate, but recognising the wisdom in his Hokage's request. She had not ordered him to do this, aware of _their_ history as well. Itachi nodded in response to Kakashi's comment, but said nothing. Annoyed, the copy ninja barely restrained the anger in his voice (again), sounding more in control than he felt when he spoke.

"Tobi is coming," Kakashi's voice was barely over a whisper, but Itachi heard him. "And we need every able bodied ninja who can fight at his level with us, not locked up in a dingy prison."

He couldn't get the next words out of his mouth. He couldn't ask Itachi to convince Sakura to agree, and he _so_ wanted to. This wasn't just any opponent, and despite his previous actions, Sasuke wasn't just any missing-nin. Kakashi wanted his team back. He wasn't some ridiculous dreamer like Naruto (who by the way was currently hounding the Hokage and the elderly council about this latest development, when he wasn't with Hinata or the rest of the leaf eleven), he was a realist. But they were so close now, to putting this all behind them.

He wanted Sakura to feel safe, to not worry if Sasuke was suddenly going to attack her and try to force that Tsukiyomi on her again. And the only way she was going to feel safe was if she could see the younger Uchiha under the restrictions of others. At least for now. There were so many reasons why he believed this _should_ happen.

Itachi uncrossed his arms. "You want me to talk to Sakura?'

Kakashi nodded. "If she's going to listen to anyone–"

"What about Naruto?"

"He tried."

Naruto had indeed asked Sakura to agree. But the _baka_ hadn't done it sympathetically. He was serious, didn't start shouting "believe it" or beg until she told him off, but hadn't chosen his words carefully. The pinkette had basically accused him of choosing Sasuke over her, of not caring that the Uchiha had tortured her. Everyone in the room knew this wasn't true, but she was so distraught that Naruto would ask this of her she couldn't see straight. That plan had gone out the window.

Itachi felt like he could almost read the copy ninja's mind. He was worried about Sakura as much as Sasuke and thinking about the situation logically allowed him to cancel out the emotional ramifications. This was a typical ANBU trait. The Uchiha inhaled slowly, remembering the last time he'd seen Kakashi before killing his clan. It was a normal day in Konoha, the sun was shining, and the people were just going about their day. But knowing what he was going to do that night, Itachi was more tense than usual. The attempts at negotiations with Fugaku had failed and the Uchiha elders were looking forward to the coup.

Itachi ran into Kakashi on his way home, summoned by Fugaku. There was apparently something important he wished to discuss with him. Landing on a rooftop, he'd decided to have one last conversation with his friend, something to hold onto when he turned rogue. Lazily smiling at him from under that mask, Kakashi had indulged the Uchiha's sudden desire to start a conversation, when the younger man was not known for doing this. He'd thought that Itachi had just had a weird day, though it bothered him, he knew he would get nothing out of him if he asked why.

Staring at Itachi now, in Sakura's apartment, Kakashi suddenly understood what the Uchiha had been doing. He was holding onto that glimmer of their friendship, trying to steady himself for what he believed he needed to do. Both men seemed to be remembering the same thing.

"They could have been subdued," Kakashi said, knowing Itachi understood he was talking about the coup. "You could've given the Hokage an ultimatum and ignored Danzou's orders. They would still be around and Sasuke would be…"

He drifted off, not realising he was putting far too much emotion into the words. He cleared his throat, but it was Itachi who spoke.

"I'll talk with Sakura, but I can't promise anything."

"We both know she'd do anything for you," Kakashi said, a little more bitterly than he intended. "He's your brother, don't you think you owe him?"

Itachi nodded his head slowly. He did want Sasuke released, but thinking about the way Sakura would look at him if he asked her had made him procrastinate. He supposed there was no more delaying it now. The elders had argued that not imprisoning Itachi was different to imprisoning Sasuke. The only things Itachi was wanted for, as a S rank criminal, he was absolved of now. But Sasuke was an international criminal, with his illegal acts being both excessive and over every border. Letting him free would not only be against the law, but it would put them in a weaker political position in future negotiations with other nations.

Itachi understood this: everyone did, even if they didn't agree with all of it. Sasuke's actions were not of Danzou's order, or the order of another person with authority inside of Konoha. But he did want to help his brother. And then there was his "condition". It made him wonder, did Kakashi know about it? Would he even care? He had never doubted the man's heart, but perhaps in this situation, he was ignoring the elders' reasoning for letting him free instead of Sasuke. But now the copy ninja would get his wish.

'_I just need to word my request to Sakura properly,' _he thought, and moved to see Kakashi out of the apartment.

"Sakura will be home soon," he said, noting the surprise on the copy ninja's face. "It would be easier if she didn't know you came to me about this."

Understanding, Kakashi willingly left. It seemed the closer he got to getting Sasuke released, the further Sakura would pull away. He may not have lived through her torture, but he understood. She needed to hate the youngest Uchiha, and Kakashi promised himself he would not push her to forgive him. He didn't have that right.

X X X

**A/N: Ignore my profile – I'll change it later. ;)  
>I had originally decided on 15 chapters in total, but the number will probably be less than that now. Not less than 10 though – more like 12 or 13 with an epilogue. We'll see. And yes, TobiMadara WILL be making an appearance. We just need to get some stuff over and done with first. Soon my pretties… soon. n_n**

**Anyway, lotsa love, and review! ^_^**

**R&R**


	8. Wonderful Life

Sorry for the late update. :)

Ignore canon. Ignore Kishi… focus on me… lol. But seriously, I started writing this story LONG before the revelation on Obito (I'm ignoring other recent events too…). So pretend it's really Madara, k? ;) Enjoy! ^_^

‒  
>Chapter 8 – Wonderful Life.<br>‒

"_Questions without answers are best not uttered in the first place."_

–

An inexplicably light breeze swept through the room, but he couldn't feel it.

Even if they weren't underground, he still wouldn't.

It should've been impossible.

But shards of light, much like one would expect in a variegated, softly illuminated area, permeated his senses regardless, and he wondered briefly if his painless form would know if he'd died. He couldn't feel a thing. His body moved without his permission, rocking, sliding, and twisting, and still he felt _nothing_. There was no tell-tale shudder of a final breath to hint that he was hovering between life and death.

Warm hands always brought him back, leaving him to wonder if he was truly dead to begin with.

And the tears never came, ever, not since he'd turned his back on everything that had caused them. Something inside of him was bound to snap eventually, and he considered just giving in, letting the fates have their way and just waiting to die. No, he didn't think he deserved to, no matter what those idiots said or thought. But now everything he'd fought for was gone, his family, his revenge, his purpose in life.

Sasuke Uchiha was officially a nobody.

He might as well just _die_.

And surprisingly, seeing Itachi roaming around unshackled no longer boiled his blood. It had been days, and he supposed he was just getting tired of the questions clogging up his brain (that and being ignored when he voiced them). What was his mass murdering older brother doing free and healthy, why did he look like he was _intimately_ involved with Sakura of all people, and what the fuck was _she_ doing free and healthy? Sasuke had seen her before of course, but after that fleeting contact, he had convinced himself she was just an illusion. It was impossible for her to be alive, walking around and trying to kill _him_.

His Eternal Tsukuyomi was too powerful for her. She was weak. She was pathetic.

But Itachi was still alive…

Sasuke lifted his head slightly, expecting pain when Ibiki moved toward him. His mind had drifted of its own accord, and he had gotten good, since falling prey to the twisted man's interrogation, to block out his physical awareness for the duration of Ibiki's "fun". His efforts had paid off; only now that his mind was returning to his predicament did he feel the razor blade running down his body. There was no tactile contact, just an impression, like a ghost sensation. And just like globules of sweat, the pain trickled over his form; he'd cause this pain to others, so he was more aware of the cause than he should be under the proverbial knife. There was something familiar about it.

But the sting faded as a blurry image protruded through his peripherals – it was a medic. No, not Sakura; his thoughts had gone to her first, but everything about _this_ woman was different. Her scent was more citrus than strawberry. She moved like a civilian, so he guessed she spent most of her time at the hospital, and had never known battle. And her hair was blonde, almost ash-like in colour. She was a nobody, just like him.

He found that he didn't mind her warm hands on him. She was healing his physical wounds, and her chakra was calming. Unlike someone who might've had a personal history with him, this medic worked dispassionately however, every move clinical; there was no need to get _personal_, after all. And she wouldn't look directly at him. There was no fear in her eyes, no hesitation in her resolve, and her hands didn't tremble: she just didn't seem to see him as important past her job.

Interesting.

Sasuke jerked his head slightly, watching in amusement as she continued without missing a heartbeat. Ibiki shifted slightly, as though afraid his prisoner might suddenly break free and kill the woman healing him, but really, he should've known better. Even if Sasuke had shown any violent tendencies since his incarceration (which he had not), attacking a medic in front of his torturer would be tantamount to suicide. Ibiki could not read his mind and see that he didn't care anymore. If they executed him, he would die. What did it matter?

The medic lowered her hands from his arm to his midsection, like a good little automaton and the Uchiha watched her intently. He inhaled deeply, letting the breath out in ragged bursts, before making the pointless attempt to activate his chakra, knowing it wouldn't work. But when the woman's eyes flickered up to his momentarily in response, he smirked, having elicited the response he had been looking for. Well, any response would've been fine.

So Sasuke indulged himself; his body jerked slightly at his command, and he stared intently at her. She didn't respond at first, but after a few minutes, when she was almost done, her fingers accidentally brushed him when he twitched, and she pulled away automatically, like a frightened animal. It lasted only a few seconds, as Ibiki had seen Sasuke's silent torment and roused on him, forcing the girl to return to healing him.

Her touch did not burn. His skin had healed. Sasuke didn't really care about that.

The girl glanced at him, her light brown eyes hardened and annoyed, and Sasuke couldn't help but smirk inwardly at that. She didn't storm out, just retreated from her patient with an air of solemnity, and nodded politely to Ibiki as she left. The interrogator was frowning at Sasuke, but he didn't care. That was the first time since waking up in this hellhole that he'd had any kind of control, and it was oddly liberating, even in this dismal place. He wanted more, craved more, and decided he would get just that.

The Hokage had been in to see him that morning ‒ something about orders from the council being overruled and Naruto and Kakashi becoming responsible for him ‒ and he was eager to be let out. If all went well, he would never smell the stench of this cesspit ever again. He'd hit rock bottom, hoping on that knucklehead to get him released; even though he doubted they'd give him access to his chakra, it was at least better than being _here_.

Ibiki shifted, clearly uncomfortable, before grunting and leaving the room, slamming the door behind him. Sasuke had heard the stories about that man, how he was so professional and terrifying. He was clearly a force to be reckoned with when it came to interrogations, but his emotions were clear as day to the Uchiha. He was angry most of the time, which was probably just a reflection of having to deal with what everyone was calling "the traitor", and yet took great pleasure in his work ‒ to the point of insatiable sadism.

Sasuke lowered his head, his throat clenching even as he coughed. That medic had only healed him as necessary, leaving minor injuries and soft tissue damage to heal naturally. She knew how to be dutiful_ and_ vindictive, it seemed. His father had married such a woman: cultured, obedient, beautiful, and indifferent to the concerns of others, _this_ medic would've made for the perfect Uchiha bride.

…

Time passed in rapid succession; the days came and went faster than he'd anticipated, since he had so few things to do, even when Sakura wasn't pressured by her Hokage to spend some time with friends. Left alone in the apartment, Itachi read up on the scrolls and books the pinkette had gathered for him, bored in between completed reading materials and missing her. He wanted _out_.

It was a week on from his discussion with Sakura over allowing Sasuke to be released (though under chakra restraints), that he was finally given permission himself, for some semblance of freedom ‒ free of the ANBU as well. Kakashi had offered to spar with him, since Sakura was still treating him like he was made of glass, but Itachi declined. He saw the copy ninja's feelings for Sakura, despite her insistence that they were just friends, and had his own history with the man (of a non-romantic nature, of course). Later, when he was more sure of his own abilities, he intended on taking Kakashi up on his offer of training, but for now, he _did_ need to take things easy.

Sakura came home every day with more ideas on how to treat his condition. She was determined to prove it wasn't mitral stenosis, though the Hokage's diagnosis was clear. She believed that it was the eyes themselves poisoning the rest of his body, augmented by chakra burn. She wanted to surgically remove his eyes, but he wouldn't allow it. With everything that was going to happen soon, Madara and whatnot, he would not be useless and blind when he felt he could do something to help stop the long lived Uchiha.

Sakura yelling and complaining about "stubborn arseholes" wasn't going to change that.

Itachi trained alone, with Sakura supervising like the overbearing medic she was, and in a training ground he was still familiar with ‒ number thirty-one. It had been his favourite. Several more days passed before Sakura reluctantly admitted that Sasuke was being released. The paperwork had been perused by the daimyo, which was what took so long, and the elders were excluded from that decision making process after blowing up at the news.

Not that it mattered anymore.

Itachi fell asleep waiting for Sakura, the night before he would see his otouto again.

She found him lying on her side of their bed, his body turned away from the window, and looking deceptively happy. She knew he wasn't, no matter what he said. Sakura had a quick shower to get the stench of the hospital off of her, and climbed under the sheets naked, intent on robbing him of his only to find he'd already done that.

Sakura spent what felt like forever just staring out her bedroom window, not thinking; the moonlight filtering through the glass, unencumbered by the drawn shades, only added to the cold of her skin. She couldn't bring the jumbled mess that was her thought process into that light, so she just let it all fall away. She had no need to overthink it, or anything else ever again. She didn't register the sight before her as a small bird fluttered nearby; in the back of her mind, she knew it had a nest nearby, but again, these things weren't really registering to her conscious mind. It was unimportant.

Itachi shifted slightly and she smiled, his arm moving to hug her from behind.

"You're awake." She wasn't asking, just noting.

"When you came out of the shower," he said softly, not opening his eyes.

"Hm."

Itachi's hand glided over her hip, barely brushing her skin and she leant into his touch, closing her eyes. She wanted him to hold her, to run his hands all over her, and satiate the heat pooling between her thighs. Coming back into this apartment, she always hesitated on the threshold, terrified at the thought that he wasn't going to be around much longer. An image of him on her bed, unmoving, freaked her out.

Sakura rolled over, facing Itachi, and looked up into his eyes, brushing hair away from his face. "I'm not going to let you die, you know."

"I know." Itachi snaked his hand around her thigh, cupping her bottom and lacing her leg over his hip. He was more exhausted than he was letting on, and they both knew it. He wanted to make love to her, to feel the familiar fire in his loins as she shuddered beneath him, but he didn't have the energy. Instead, he brought up the subject of his otouto, knowing that Sakura too, was not remotely inclined to leave the bed.

"Tomorrow will be difficult."

Sakura sighed, closing her eyes. "I know. I'm not looking forward to working alongside Sasuke."

"Will you attack him again?"

Her eyes snapped open; dark obsidian orbs stared curiously back at her. "I will never not hate him," she said, curling her fingers over his open palm. "I'm sorry, but I can't let it go."

He really didn't expect her to. Unlike her friends, he _had_ seen the effects of his otouto's jutsu, and could at least, on some level, imagine what she'd gone through. It wasn't something one did to an enemy, former teammate or not ‒ nobody deserved that.

Itachi closed his eyes; pulling Sakura tightly to his chest, he hummed his response, knowing she'd understand. That was something he'd never had outside of other Uchiha ‒ the silent understanding.

"Itachi?"

"Hm."

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." She was drifting off, her breathing deepening, and evening as she listened to his heartbeat. "I love you so much."

"It's okay, I love you too." He kissed the crown of her head. "Get some sleep."

Sakura had yelled, sobbed and cursed until her throat was hoarse, after he'd stopped her from killing his brother, and he honestly didn't know what to do with a crying woman. Seeing her upset had upset _him_ more than he was willing to admit.

– **Flashback –**

_He wanted to raise his voice, despite the fact that the act itself bore no interest for him, but she wore him down with her tears._

_He hated to see her cry. She was sobbing into his shirt, gripping harder than necessary, and telling him she couldn't live without him. Itachi just held her, kissing the crown of her head as she begged him not to die. If he loved her, he wouldn't die… her words became incessant rambling and he just held her as she let it all out._

_His defence of his brother didn't come. He didn't think it wise to upset her further. But the next words out of his mouth did just that anyway._

"_Don't you dare!" She screamed. "Don't you dare stand there and tell me you have nothing left to live for!"_

"_I did everything I'd planned," he said back, his voice barely louder than a whisper. "I wasn't supposed to live this long in the first place."_

_And then she screamed again, this time without the tears, as anger fuelled her fire. Itachi bore the brunt of it, waiting patiently as she exploded, berating him. When she finally went quiet and started to sniffle instead, he bent to pick her up, carrying her bridal style to the bed they were sharing, and was surprised when she turned away from him._

_Itachi stroked her despite this, running his fingers through the thick strands of pink, and pulling her back against his chest. She gave no protest as he waited on her to fall asleep, thinking about their time in that shack – it felt like a lifetime ago, but he could remember everything: from the first, terrified look on her face at his presence, to that last, sensual moan from her as he came inside her for the first time. _

_And despite his words, he really was desperate to keep experiencing that feeling. He wanted to lay next to her for the rest of __both__ of their lives._

– **End Flashback –**

Itachi held her close, kissing her forehead. "I won't let anyone hurt you ever again, I promise."

…

There was no justice in the world; it was as simple as that. And Sasuke hated them all for it. Itachi killed his family, and was now roaming free, unshackled and unmarred. Danzou ordered the deaths of the Uchiha clan and yet despite being found guilty of crimes against his village, was still _breathing_. He did not doubt that Ibiki had not gone near the fucker. And then there was _him_.

Himself.

Sasuke was guilty of war crimes, and yes, he'd been tortured for information when he refused to give it freely, but here he was… standing unshackled and being granted his _freedom_. It wasn't freedom in the purest meaning of the word, but it would do for now.

His wrists bore the tell-tale signs that Ibiki enjoyed his job a little _too_ much, and that medic (who he'd learnt was called Nurse Yuko) was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the only medic in the room was the Hokage, and she did not look eager to heal him. Not that he'd let _her_ touch _him_ long enough to do so. He'd rather suffer in silence, and in the darkest recess of his mind than ask her to help him.

And he'd rather drown in a pool of his own blood than see Sakura again, even if only one last time. But that resolve wasn't as resolute, as he knew that seeing Itachi again would mean Sakura would be there, and that was an annoyance he really _was_ willing to bear to see his aniki. He could handle one weak, insignificant Kunoichi ‒ _hell_ he could handle them all. If he had access to his chakra, she wouldn't even get to see _him_ before writhing in agony and dying the slowest and most painful way he could think of.

Sasuke sighed softly, refraining from becoming audible to his self-appointed _guards_, at the approach of his only former team mate who _would_ gladly watch him die. He felt the weight of the pinkette's glare before he spotted her next to his aniki. His brother gave him an impassive, acknowledgement in the form of a slight head nod, as expected, and they both pretended to not hear the snort Sakura made before crossing her arms over her chest.

Sasuke didn't bother to apologise to Sakura. Her death glares were enough to make him realise she would just use the words as an excuse to try killing him again. That and the anger rolling off of her was clearly a volatile defence mechanism for her. He'd thought a lot about what he'd done to her. The state he'd left her in. He wasn't above doing the same thing again, not really, but despite everything, he wasn't as angry or consumed by his own hatred anymore. For so long he'd blamed Itachi for everything that had gone wrong in his life, not knowing the truth, not knowing how _wrong_ he really was.

But Sasuke couldn't let go of the darkness inside himself. It was so strong inside of him, such a powerful entity that he'd given himself over to. It scared him: it never used to, which only served to worry him further. Being back in the leaf had dredged up concerns he thought were long behind him.

They were gathered in what Ibiki was fondly calling the War Room ‒ Sasuke had no idea if it was a new addition after the war or not. There were eight ninja present (Tsunade, Inoichi, Ibiki, Sasuke, Sakura, Itachi, Kakashi and Naruto), and Sasuke wondered briefly if the elders were now disallowed from future endeavours. He wanted to ask or demand to know when and how that freak, Danzou, would be executed, but a strange, tightening sensation in the pit of his stomach kept him silent.

Funny how he was feeling like a lost sheep amongst wolves ‒ he _hated_ this feeling.

The room in the Hokage's building was empty but for a large table and eight chairs, giving everyone present the option of sitting, but Sasuke remained standing, ignoring Naruto, who had been talking happily non-stop since the moment he'd come to get him. Overnight, he'd been taken from the prison to an apartment that he guessed was Kakashi's (he'd never been in the man's home before, so what did it really matter?), and was clean for the first time in weeks. He'd never gone so long without bathing, even back when he still spent nights in trees or lowland forestry to avoid whatever enemy it was that had marked him for death at the time.

Sasuke blinked heavily, realising his mind had drifted. The Hokage was frowning at the interrogator and the youngest Uchiha's eyes drifted to the maps and scrolls on the table. They'd clearly been discussing where to fight Madara, outside the village. He wished he had been paying attention, and mentally berated himself, resolving to forcefully listening in on the dribble coming out of these peoples' mouths.

"We don't have that advantage," Tsunade said to Ibiki, annoyed. "The enemy knows where _we_ are, while we're forced to scour for _them_. It's the disadvantage to knowing you're marked when you're so easy to find."

True enough, that the ninja villages were "hidden" villages technically, but the only kinds of people who didn't _really_ know how to find a Shinobi village were civilians; it didn't matter what it took, it was always possible.

"Then let's not give Madara an easy target!" Naruto growled out, clenching his fists. "Let's meet him head on before he can even get here."

"You mean a pre-emptive strike?" Ibiki asked, intrigued.

"No, I mean take the fight to him," Naruto said. "We don't know where he is, even with all the intelligence on him, but we know _when_ he'll be coming to _us_."

"Cut him off before he can get here," the interrogator said slowly, impressed. "I like it."

"The Aburame did that once," the Hokage said. "When the Kamizuru clan moved to attack Konoha a long time ago."

"I know, baa-chan," Naruto said smugly. "Where do you think I got the idea from?"

"No need to get all excited," Kakashi teased, earning himself a glare from the blonde. "We're all going to think you thought this one through."

Itachi interrupted the blonde's comeback, making himself the new target of Naruto's anger. "Knowing Madara, he'll anticipate this; no matter how arrogant he is, he won't underestimate us."

"So we just sit here?" Naruto snapped.

"No, we divide our forces."

"How?" Sakura asked, leaning forward. "Every Sharingan will need to be on Madara, but he'll have the bulk of the force with him anyway, right?"

"Pinky makes an arguable point," Ibiki agreed, grinning when Sakura glared at him. "He'll have another force to try to distract us, for sure. That's what I would do, and I've had the _privilege_ of working alongside Uchiha before."

Sasuke gave him a foul look, narrowing his eyes. Only Itachi noticed.

Inoichi agreed, and Sakura sighed, grateful. No-one paid Sasuke any mind, and he preferred to just listen, in case they said anything important, but after an hour, he still had nothing to add. It surprised him, but he kept quiet anyway. The last thing they needed to talk about however, before leaving, piqued his interest. After they'd agreed they would be splitting up during the battle, it was Inoichi's idea that Itachi be the one to deal with the rest of the former members of Taka.

"_No_," Sakura said haughtily.

Inoichi groaned. "It'll have to be Itachi, Sasuke's attacks are too well known by his former Taka teammates."

"I don't _care_," she snapped. "He can just grin and bear it."

"Sakura–" Itachi started.

She rounded on him. "What if your Sharingan fails? You'll be stuck in mid-battle against those idiots and they won't hesitate to kill you."

"I am more than a match for them Sakura," he insisted. "And I promise I won't use my Sharingan unless absolutely necessary."

She argued the toss with him, but he wouldn't budge. In fact, Sakura was the only one who disagreed ‒ she was outnumbered. Sasuke noticed that Kakashi merely went along with it because there was no further flaws with the plan, while Naruto had smirked at the idea of Team Taka taking Itachi's head off. Sasuke glowered in the blonde's direction, and when obsidian met blue, the knucklehead realised his blatant mistake and lost the smug look. Naruto may not like the man, but Sasuke would not tolerate any crap from him about his brother.

That left a problem with Itachi being in the fight.

"I don't like it," Sakura groaned, her arms crossed over her chest. "Your eyes are killing you Itachi, and if you do use your Sharingan, it could very well kill you before you do any good."

Her voice wasn't quavering, but everyone heard the concern in her undertones anyway. She was useless at hiding her feelings.

"Sakura," Itachi said, taking her hands in his. "I know you want me to have mine removed, but there is no alternative‒"

"It's obvious," Sasuke interrupted softly, ignoring the strange looks he was getting now that he'd finally spoken up, and stared at his aniki. "You need new eyes? Then take Madara's."

…

Streaks of lightning illuminated the sky and Itachi couldn't help the small smile from lighting up his face as he stared out at the otherwise darkened night. The lightning reminded him of Sasuke, of the Chidori and the electrifying feeling he'd experienced inside Sakura's mind while trying to break his otouto's Eternal Tsukuyomi. Sasuke had told him the name for it after their meeting and he felt a new, twisted surge of pride at his brother's accomplishment: not the darkness of it, the ingenuity. _He_ would never have thought of a genjutsu that used the target's own chakra to keep it going. It was prodigious.

He said nothing of this to anyone of course, considering what Sasuke had done to Sakura, but a part of him was grateful for at least, the fact that it had brought her to him. He couldn't see where tomorrow, the next day or even the impending battle against Madara and whatever Akatsuki who still aligned themselves with him would bring, but he was glad for these moments of peace. The cool air streaming through the open window and dancing over his naked torso brought a calm and serenity to him he hadn't felt in years.

And then that serenity was again outclassed by the feel of Sakura's equally naked body wrapped around his.

She had been wary about exerting his body, given the givens, but he wore her down; a time tested combination of hormones and sweet, whispered promises, and she was his. He almost laughed out loud at that. He didn't want to be careful ‒ he'd been meticulous and vigilant for years, and now all he wanted to do was take Sakura as many times as she'd let him have her. He wasn't made of glass, not by a long shot.

Sakura shifted in his arms, waking again, and he felt her tremble, prompting him to pull the sheets further over their bodies and rubbing her skin in an attempt to add more heat. She moaned, rolled over to face him, and smiled.

"Gorgeous," she murmured, leaning in to kiss him.

She'd been a rampaging rhinoceros all day, before, during and after that meeting, but having Itachi with her made seeing Sasuke easier, and she realised she could handle that better than expected.

"Itachi," she whispered. "I want you again."

So he shifted, holding her tightly to him as he entered her again, reintroducing himself to the warmth he'd grown accustomed to. As anticipated, Sakura growled, instinctively pushing against him to immediately draw tension through her pelvis, seeking the friction she so desired. Like a well-rehearsed dance that never became dull or tiresome, they moved together.

The storm outside raged, but neither cared. It wasn't natural anyway.

Morning filtered in through the window, shortly after they both finally fell asleep again, the chill of the night was now a warm breeze. A few more hours later, Sakura was the first to stir. Once she got her bearings, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and remembered a promise she'd made to herself the previous day, she wrapped a gown around her body and left the room. She'd been with Itachi in such a short time, respectively, but things between them were moving so fast. Normally, she would be freaked out by that, since her only other serious relationship had really been more physical for her ‒ looking back at it, she knew she'd had feelings for the man (perhaps she still did), but it hardly compared to how she saw Itachi. This relationship demanded higher stakes.

Sakura headed for the guest bedroom, glancing back at her sleeping lover to make sure he was indeed, still asleep, and gathered what she needed before locking herself in the bathroom.

She hadn't wanted to bother another medic – it wasn't something she was supposed to do herself, not really; rules, regulations, and whatnot. Years of training under her shishou had taught her not to do this on herself. She was supposed to seek out a certified medical practitioner, even though she _knew_ from stories from Shizune that Tsunade had broken the rule herself once upon a time. The few minutes it took to find out if her relationship was indeed spiralling out of control was actually quite calming for her. She wasn't as scared as she should be.

Sakura held the stick tightly to stop her hand from shaking; all her calm suddenly flew out the window. It was a test for civilians, and the distinct, pink lines told her she was indeed pregnant.

…  
>X X X<br>…

Yeah… don't normally go for the "she gets pregnant" cliché when writing, like, making her pregnant just for the sake of making her pregnant. I will say no more. ;) And again, sorry for the late update. I'll try not to take so long next time. I know this chapter was pretty lax on the whole story front, but next time is when things REALLY begin to heat up. Lotsa love. ^_^

**R&R**


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